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THE 


California   Horticulturist 


nrr.  i8**y.  m^ 


AND 


FLORAL  MAGAZINE. 


VOLUME    V.-1875 


PUBLISHED     BY    JOHN     H.     CARMANY     &     CO. 

No.  409  Washington  Street,  opposite  the  Post -Office, 
SAN     FRANCISCO,     CAL. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Oak  Knoll January  Number. 

Lobelia  Pimula  Grandiflora "  " 

Group  of  Lilies February  Number. 

Sea-lions "  " 

Trees  of  Semi-tropical  California March  Number. 

Fur-seals "  " 

Scilla,  Single  and  Double April  Number. 

Group  of  Bulbous  Plants May  Nun^ber. 


Ehododendron  Californicum June  Number. 

Geranium  Chromo July  Number* 

The  Augbinbaugh  Blackberry August  Number. 

New  Hybrid  Gladiolus September  Number. 

Clematis  Jackmanii Ocober  Number- 

Pampas  Grass November  Number . 

Hyacinths "  " 

Lomaria  Gibba December  Number. 


JANUARY. 


Oak  Knoll  (Photograph),  Country  Residence  of  B.  B. 

Woodward.  Esq 29 

The  Lily  of  the  Valley 9 

The  Oak  (Quercus  Robur) 11 

Poetry  of  Flowers 17 


Fruit  Cultivation,  and  Report  on  the  Fruit  and  Veg- 
etable Market 34 

Selected  Articles 10-28 

Editorial  Portfolio 29-37 

Gleanings 37-40 


FEBRUARY. 


The  Trees  of  California,  Indigenous  and  Exotic. ...  41 

Moral  of  Flowers 47 

Incidental  Notes  on  the  Flora  of  Japan 48 

The  Kum-quat r 50 

The  Beech-tree 53 

Some  Good  Roses 58 


Fruit  Cultivation,  and  Report  on  the  Fruit  and  Veg- 
etable Market 59 

Selected  Articles 44-57 

Editorial  Portfolio 61-66 

Gleanings 67-72 

Meteorological  Record 72 


MARCH. 


Seed-planting 73 

Teachings  of  Flowers 80 

Notes  on  Bush  Fruit,  Fruit  Culture,  and  Report  on 

the  Fruit  and  Vegetable  Market 98 


Selected  Articles 74-89 

Editorial  Portfolio 90-101 

Gleanings 102-104 

Meteorological  Record 104 


APRIL. 


Seed-planting 105 

The  Spanish  Chestnut 108 

The  Rose Ill 

Acacias 114 

Wild  Flowers 117 

Drying  Northers,  or  March  Winds 120 

Selected  Plants  suited  to  California  Culture 123 


Fruit  Cultivation,  and  Report  on  the  Fruit  and  Veg- 
etable Market 129 

Letter  from  Hon.  Marshall  P.  Wilder 128 

Selected  Articles 107-128 

Editorial  Portfolio 124-128 

Gleanings 132-136 

Meteorological  Record 136 


MAY. 


Seed-planting 137 

Colors  of  Flowers . 141 

Acacia  Trees  (concluded) 144 

Some  Good  Koses 146 

Floriculture 150, 

Chinese  Fruits , 154 


Cultivation  of  Fruit,  and  Report  on  the  Fruit  and 

Vegetable  Market 160 

Selected  Articles '. .138-163 

Editorial  Portfolio 157-159 

Gleanings  163-168 

Meteorological  Record 168 


JUNE. 


The  Amaryllis 169 

Landscape  Gardening  as  an  Art 173 

Oranges  aud  Lemons 175 

Angling — Allied  to  Horticulture 177 

Some  Good  Koses  (concluded) 180 

Colors  in  Nature  and  Flowers 182 


European  System  of  Basket-planting 190 

Cultivation  of  Fruit,  and  Eeport  on  the  Fruit  and 

Vegetable  Market 195 

Selected  Articles 171-189 

Editorial  Portfolio 190-198 

Gleanings 198-200 


Cloak-cup  Morning  Glories... 184        Meteorological  Record 200 


JULY. 


Correa 201 

Concerning  Climate  and  California  "Weather 203 

Angling  and  Love  of  Flowers  in  Harmony 208 

Useful  and  Especially  Ornamental  Planting 211 

Black  Blight  of  Orange  and  Olive 213 


Report  on  the  Fruit  and  Vegetable  Market 225 

Selected  Articles 202-219 

Editorial  Portfolio 220-224 

Gleanings , 228-232 

Meteorological  Record 232 


AUGUST. 


Rose  Culture 233 

Trolling  tor  Salmon  in  Rivers  and  Lakes,  etc 236 

Some  of  Man's  Physical  Agency  on  the  Earth  as  re- 
gards Planting,  etc 239 

Black  Blight  of  Orange  and  Olive  (concluded) 241 

The  Golden  Chain,  or  Laburnum 244 


The  Philosophy  of  Dew 246 

Report  on  the  Fruit  and  Vegetable  Market 256 

Selected  Articles 234-258 

Editorial  Portfolio 251-255 

Gleanings 259-264 

Meteorological  Record 264 


SEPTEMBER, 


Rose  Culture  (continued) 265 

Angling,  and  its  Pleasant  and  Profitable  Association 

with  Nature  and  Social  Good 271 

Hints  for  Flower  Gardeners 274 


Fruit  Cultivation,  and  Fruit  and  Vegetable  Market..  291 

Selectt-d  Articles 266-295 

Editorial  Portfolio 288-291 

Gleanings 295-296 


OCTOBER. 


The  Chinese  Yam.    Its  Cultivation  and  Cookery 297 

Tacs'  >nia 301 

The  Country  of  Orchids 304 

Proper  Use  of  the  Land  Net  when  Angling 307 


Fruit  Cultivation,  and  Fruit  and  Vegetable  Market.  321 

Selected  Articles 298-317 

Editorial  Portfolio 318-321 

Gleanings 323-328 


NOVEMBER. 


"Wild  Fruits  of  the  West 329 

The  Bulb  Season 334 

Trout 337 

The  Gum  from  the  Mesquite-tree 340 

The  Aphis 342 

Acclimatization 346 


Fruit  Cultivation,  and  Report  on  the  Fruit  and  Veg- 
etable Market 354 

Selected  Articles 331-353 

Editorial  Portfolio 350-353 

Gleanings 357-360 

Meteorological  Record 360 


DECEMBER. 


Salmon  Fishing  and  Ruralizing  on  the  Noyo  River 

on  the  Northern  Coast 361 

The  Uses  to  which  some  Wild  Fruits  may  be  put. . . .  363 

A  Notice  of  Some  of  our  Useful  BirdB 365 

The  Bulb  Season 367 

Dodder,  or  Love-vine  (Cuscuta) 372 


Fruit  Cultivation,  and  Report  on  the  Fruit  and  Veg- 
etable Market 386 

Selected  Articles 368-385 

Editorial  Portfolio 385-390 

Gleanings 390-392 

Meteorological  Record 392 


THE 


AND   FLORAL   MAGAZINE. 


Vol.  V.  SAN   FRANCISCO,   JANUARY,    1875.  No.  1. 


THE  LILY   OF  THE  VALLEY. 

BY  F.    A.    MILLEB. 

Very  few  plants  enjoy.a  greater  popu- 
larity than  the  Lily  of  the  Valley  (Con- 
vallaria  majalis )  and  the  number  of 
plants  furnished  annually  by  the  bulb- 
growers  of  Holland  is  enormously  large, 
which  fact  in  itself  goes  far  to  prove 
that  it  has  become  a  universal  favorite. 
The  Garden,  of  London,  in  a  recent  arti- 
cle on  the  subject,  says:  "Fortunes  are 
being  built  up  on  this  humble  plant;  it 
employs  thousands  for  several  months 
in  the  year,  in  this  and  other  countries; 
it  is  the  most  favored  of  all  the  plants 
that  come  into  Covent  Garden  Market, 
in  the  winter  and  spring  months;  and, 
loaded  with  little  green-tipped  lumps  of 
white,  is  undeniably  a  queen  among  flow- 
ers." Most  of  our  people  here  are  un- 
der the  impression  that  the  roots  ex- 
posed for  sale  are  simply  dug  up  from 
the  forests  of  Europe.  This  is  not  the 
case.  The  roots  offered  here  are  espe- 
cially grown  for  market. 

So  far  but  few  persons  have  met  with 
success  in  the  cultivation  of  this  pretty 
plant,  but  the  failure  must  be  attribut- 
ed, first,  to  very  inferior  roots,  contain- 
ing no  flower-buds;  and  secondly,  to  im- 


proper treatment.  The  roots  are  sent 
out  as  single  crowns  or  in  clumps;  the 
latter  are  masses  of  flowering  and  leaf 
crowns.  Single  crowns  have  no  soil 
attached,  and  are  apt  to  suffer  from  the 
effects  of  a  long  journey.  In  purchas- 
ing these,  the  crown  should  be  careful- 
ly examined,  and  if  found  plump  and 
firmly  attached  to  the  root,  its  healthy 
condition  can  be  relied  upon.  Fre- 
quently I  have  seen  crowns  offered  for 
sale,  which  were  simply  leaf -buds,  and 
would  not  produce  any  flowers.  The 
two  are  easily  distinguished;  the  flow- 
ering-crown is  much  larger  and  more 
roundish  than  the  leaf-crown.  A  very 
little  experience  will  enable  anyone  to 
distinguish  one  from  the  other. 

Clumps  generally  reach  us  in  much 
better  condition,  and  are  therefore  re- 
liable, unless  they  were  previously  used 
for  forcing,  which  operation  exhausts 
the  roots  for  at  least  one  year.  It  is 
also  very  important  that  the  roots  should 
not  be  taken  up  from  the  ground  until 
after  some  heavy  frosts  in  autumn. 

Our  first  attempt  at  cultivating  the 
Lily  of  the  Valley  for  this  market  dur- 
ing last  year  was  a  conqolete  success. 
"We  received  our  clumps  during  the 
last  week  of   December,  and   we  had 


10 


THE    CALLFOBNIA    HOBTICULTUKIST. 


tliem  profusely  in  bloom,  from  the  15th 
of  January  to  the  1st  of  May.  They 
met  with  a  very  ready  sale,  and  we  were 
much  encouraged  to  continue  their 
cultivation  more  extensively.  During 
the  present  season  we  received  an  in- 
voice of  crowns  and  clumps  as  early  as 
November  1st ;  the  crowns  were  very 
much  damaged,  and  the  clumps  were 
inferior.  During  the  last  week  of  De- 
cember we  received  a  second  and  very 
large  invoice  of  both  crowns  and 
clumps.  In  unpacking  them  we  found 
them  frozen,  notwithstanding  their  hav- 
ing been  in  this  mild  climate  for  over  a 
week.  However,  their  condition  was 
most  excellent,  and  those  which  were 
transferred  into  a  warm-house  are  al- 
ready showing  their  graceful  snowy- 
white  bells,  and  we  shall  be  enabled  to 
have  them  in  bloom  from  this  time  un- 
til the  1st  of  May. 

To  bring  flowering  crowns  or  clumps 
into  bloom  is  most  simple,  and  anyone 
can  succeed  by  planting  them  in  al- 
most any  kind  of  soil.  By  giving  them 
a  position  in  the  greenhouse  or  any 
warm  room,  they  will  come  into  flower 
much  earlier  than  if  placed  in  a  cold 
room  or  out-of-doors.  They  require  a 
liberal  supply  of  moisture,  particularly 
if  cultivated  in  a  warm  room. 

But  to  establish  the  Lily  of  the  Val- 
ley out-of-doors  seems  not  to  be  thor- 
oughly understood  here  as  yet.  I  ap- 
prehend no  difficulty  in  making  it  at 
home  in  our  gardens,  if  reasonable  care 
can  be  bestowed  upon  it.  Imported 
roots  are  generally  planted  in  pots,  un- 
til they  have  passed  their  flowering  sea- 
son. No  sooner  are  the  flowers  decayed 
than  the  plant  is  totally  neglected,  the 
leaves  die  off  for  want  of  water  and  at- 
tention, and  within  a  short  period  of 
time  nothing  is  left  except  an  exhaust- 
ed and  dried-out  root,  which  can  not  be 
expected  to  regain  vitality.     In  this  con- 


dition it  will  finally  find  its  way  to 
some  out-of-the-way  place  in  the  gar- 
den, never  to  show  life  again. 

To  those  who  wish  to  perpetuate  the 
Lily  of  the  Valley  in  their  gardens,  I 
would  say :  Treat  the  plant  after  flow- 
ering as  liberally  as  before  and  during 
its  flowering  season.  Let  the  foliage 
decay  under  the  same  treatment.  Trans- 
plant into  a  warm  and  shady  place, 
well  protected  from  our  strong  winds. 
Before  planting  out,  work  the  soil  over 
to  the  depth  of  eighteen  inches,  and 
give  a  good  top-dressing  of  very  old  de- 
composed stable-manure.  Place  a  stake 
beside  it,  in  order  that  some  well-to-do 
gardener  may  spare  the  root  in  digging 
over  the  ground;  and  I  am  quite  cer- 
tain its  glossy  leaves  will  make  their 
appearance  in  due  time,  and  another 
year's  grace  will  surprise  you  with  a 
very  respectable  harvest  of  the  sweetest 
flowers  of  all.  In  accomplishing  this 
much  you  have  domesticated  the  Lily 
of  the  Valley. 


TRANSPLANTING  EVEEGEEENS. 

In  removing  evergreens  from  the 
nursery  great  care  must  be  taken  not 
to  allow  the  roots  to  become  dried. 
More  trees  are  lost  in  transplanting 
them  from  this  one  cause  than  from  all 
others  put  together.  They  should,  if 
possible,  be  puddled  as  soon  as  they 
are  taken  up;  but  at  any  rate  puddled 
when  received  —  a  process  which  ex- 
cludes the  air  from  the  roots  and  keeps 
them  moist.  Puddling  is  dipping  the 
roots  into  a  mixture  of  finely  pulverized 
soil  and  water  made  into  the  consistence 
of  thick  cream,  which  adheres  to  and 
incases  the  roots  and  protects  them 
from  the  injury  otherwise  arising  from 
exposure  to  the  atmosphere. 

The  trees  should  be  planted  with  the 
least  possible  delay,  and  the  earth  well 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


11 


pulverized  before  being  thrown  over  the 
roots.  During  the  filling  in,  the  tree, 
if  not  too  large,  should  be  shaken  up 
and  down  so  that  the  earth  may  fill  up 
the  interstices  between  the  roots;  and 
the  earth  should,  afterward,  be  well 
trodden  down.  If  the  roots  have  not 
been  puddled  it  is  better  not  to  tread 
down;  but,  when  the  hole  has  been 
two-thirds  filled,  pour  in  sufficient  wa- 
ter to  well  soak  the  soil  and  cause  it  to 
settle  about  the  roots.  When  the  wa- 
ter has  well  soaked  away,  fill  in  the  re- 
maining soil,  and  this  will  absorb  any 
overplus  of  water  and  prevent  the  sur- 
face from  becoming  baked.  If  the  sur- 
face soil  becomes  hard  and  baked  it  pre- 
vents the  moisture  of  the  soil  below 
from  being  drawn  up,  and  also  pre- 
vents the  air  from  filtrating  through  the 
soil  to  the  roots.  Should  the  weather 
be  dry  or  hot,  it  may  be  necessary,  in 
ten  days  or  a  fortnight  after  the  trees 
are  planted,  to  draw  the  earth  away 
from  the  tree  to  a  depth  of  three  or  four 
inches  and  give  another  good  watering, 
and,  when  the  water  has  soaked  in  again, 
return  the  soil.  Never  use  soap-suds, 
manure-water,  or  any  liquid  except  pure 
water,  to  newly  transplanted  trees;  nor 
apply  any  manure,  earth  from  the  woods 
or  wood-piles,  or  any  other  ingredient, 
to  them  in  this  operation.  Nothing 
more  is  required  than  good  fresh  earth 
and  water;  anything  else  is  positively  in-, 
jurious,  if  not  certain  death  to  them. 
After  transplanting  the  trees  should  be 
firmly  staked,  to  secure  them  from  the 
action  of  high  winds,  which,  by  rocking 
them  to  and  fro,  prevent  the  young 
roots  from  properly  taking  hold  of  the 
soil  and  furnishing  the  tree  with  suita- 
ble nourishment  by  absorbing  from  the 
earth  the  moisture  so  necessary  to  its  ex- 
istence. 

The  operation  of  transplanting  is  a 
very  simple  one,  and  there  are  none  of 


the  mysteries  about  it  in  which  many 
ignorant  people  believe.  Its  success 
consists  in  preserving  as  many  roots  as 
possible  on  the  tree;  never  allowing 
them  to  become  dried;  making  the 
fresh  soil  in  which  they  are  planted  as 
nearly  firm  as  can  be  to  that  in  which 
they  were  previously  growing,  and  pre- 
serving a  sufficient  moisture  in  the 
new  soil  to  insure  rapid  root -making. 
Mutilated  roots,  like  cuttings,  will  not 
make  new  roots  unless  they  have  a  prop- 
er supply  of  moisture,  and  not  when  in 
contact  with  decomposing  manure  or 
similar  materials.  In  re-potting  green- 
house plants  the  case  is  different,  as  then 
the  roots  are  all  intact  ( or  should  be ), 
and  they  immediately  begin  to  absorb 
the  stronger  plant-food.  But  it  is  im- 
possible to  remove  a  tree  of  any  usual 
size  for  transplanting,  without  in  some 
degree  depriving  it  of  its  roots.  The 
more  carefully,  therefore,  these  are  re- 
tained and  preserved,  the  more  likely  is 
the  operation  of  transplanting  to  prove 
successful. — The  American  Garden. 


THE  OAK   (Quercus  Bobur). 

BY    E.    J.    HOOPER. 

Artists  divide  the  greater  number  of 
trees  into  four  distinct  classes:  the 
round-topped,  as  the  Oak  and  Elm,  the 
Chestnut,  Willow,  Ash,  and  Beech;  the 
spiny -topped,  which  includes  different 
species  of  the  Fir  tribe;  the  shaggy- top- 
ped, comprehending  those  of  the  Pine; 
and  the  slender-formed,  as  the  Lombar- 
dy  Poplar,  California  Pepper- tree,  and 
the  Cypress. 

With  regard  to  the  Oak,  in  California, 
we  have  two  deciduous  Oaks  (fruit  an- 
nual), White  Oak,  Burr  Oak  (  Quercus 
Lobarta,  Nee.),  and  White  Oak  (Qu. 
Douglasii,v&r.  Gambelii,  Nutt.);  the  first 
generally  found  in  the  valleys,  and  the 
last  in  gravelly  soils . 


12 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Of  Evergreen  Oaks  (fruit  annual), 
we  have  the  common  Live  -  oak  (  Qu. 
Agrifolia,  Nee.),  and  the  Mountain  Live- 
oak  (Qu.  chiysolepis,  Liebm.);  the  first 
frequent  in  valleys,  and  the  last  on  hills 
near  the  coast. 

Of  the  Black  Oak,  deciduous  (fruit 
biennial),  Qu.  Sonomensis,  Benth.,  in- 
habiting hill-sides. 

Of  Evergreen  Oaks  (fruit  biennial), 
we  have  the  Live-oak  (Qu.  Wislizeni, 
Engelm.)  in  the  northern  valleys,  and 
Chestnut  Oak  (Qu.  densifiora,  Hook.) 
in  the  Redwoods. 

We  have,  also,  several  shrubby  Oaks. 
The  Oak  stands  foremost  both  in  digni- 
ty and  grandeur;  pre-eminent,  like  the 
lion  among  animals,  and  as  the  eagle 
among  birds.  Beauty  united  to  strength 
is  everywhere  developed;  its  leaves,  ele- 
gant in  outline,  are  strongly  ribbed,  and 
firmly  attached  to  the  branches,  which, 
although  individually  slender  and  excur- 
sive, are  bold  and  determined  in  their 
aggregate;  while  the  abrupt  and  tortu- 
ous irregularity  of  the  massive  boughs 
that  start  from  its  giant  trunk  are  strong- 
ly contrasted  with  the  density  and  rich- 
ness of  its  luxuriant  foliage.  Who  has 
not  thrilled  with  gratification,  and  even 
with  ecstacy,  as  I  did  the  last  summer, 
when  visiting  Oak -wooded  and  Oak- 
knolled  Napa  Valley,  listening  to  the 
wind  whispering  among  the  branches, 
causing  the  leaves  to  strike  one  against 
another,  where  cooing  doves  answered 
their  mates  from  out  their  branches,  the 
busy  woodpeckers  tapped  on  their 
trunks,  and  the  restless  blue- jay  flitted 
from  one  tree  to  the  other  ?  And  thus, 
one  may  say,  men  have  fabled  that 
trees  could  speak,  and  thought  them 
worthy  of  double  honor.  But  the  Oak 
has  ever  been  pre-eminent.  Poets  have 
sung  concerning  it,  from  the  earliest 
periods  in  this  world's  history.  The 
Greeks  bestowed  upon  it  appropriate 


honors,  and  from  the  smallest  of  its 
twigs  was  composed  the  Roman  civic 
crown.  Nuptial  processions  were  graced 
with  its  boughs,  and  men  carried  them 
on  commemorative  days  as  emblems  of 
victory.  Ancient  poets,  equally  with 
those  of  modern  times,  sung  concerning 
this  majestic  tree.  The  former  even  at- 
tributed to  it  not  only  vegetative  pow- 
er, which  imparts,  especially  in  the 
Live-oak,  eternal  duration,  but  that  it 
was  inhabited  by  Dryads  and  Hama- 
dryads. Some  such,  they  sung,  loved 
as  we  do  to  haunt  these  greenwood 
shades,  and  to  wander  by  their  often- 
accompanying  clear  streams;  or,  look- 
ing tranquilly  from  their  fostering  trees, 
passed  a  dreamy  existence,  as  some  of 
us  do,  at  least  for  a  time,  in  listening 
to  the  soothing  sound  of  the  winds  and 
zephyrs  among  their  leaves.  The  paint- 
er, also,  selects  from  Oaks  those  tablets 
on  which  he  embodies  his  imperishable 
thoughts.  Salvator  Rosa  made  great 
use  of  old  Oak-  trees.  He  liked  to  con- 
trast them  with  young  saplings.  Their 
gnarled  boughs  and  gray  trunks  look 
well  in  wild  scenes,  in  depicting  which, 
like  our  Hill,  and  Keith,  and  Bush,  he 
so  much  excelled. 

Observe  in  their  pictures  the  bright 
velvet  Moss  that  they  have  stationed 
around  the  roots  of  the  Oak.  Brim- 
stone-colored lichens  succeed,  and  ex- 
tend up  the  trunk;  some  are  smooth  and 
spreading,  and  seem  imbedded  in  the 
bank  ;  others  are  rough,  and  hang  in 
small  rich  knots  and  fringes;  and  with 
these  are  intermingled  a  nearly  white 
lichen,  beautiful  in  the  contrast  which 
it  presents,  and  denoting  that  the  vigor 
of  the  tree  is  about  to  fail .  Different 
kinds  of  Mosses  also  congregate  upon 
the  bark;  some  dark  green,  others  of  a 
rich  brown  hue  or  nearly  black,  others 
of  a  dingy  orange;  others  inclining  to 
red,  and  even  to  bright  yellow,  resem- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


13 


bling  gleams  of  sunshine.  In  this  broth- 
erhood of  parasitic  plants,  different  spe- 
cies blend  with  one  another:  the  knot- 
ted brimstone-tinted  lichens  cling  to 
an  ash-gray  species;  these  giving  to 
the  rough  and  furrowed  trunk  a  pecu- 
liar character  of  sylvan  beauty.  Im- 
mense masses  of  rocks  are  seen  in  the 
Californian  scenes  of  our  artists,  scat- 
tered in  all  directions,  and  in  their 
midst,  either  growing  among  them,  or 
else  seeming  to  spring  from  out  their 
interstices,  arise  wildly  and  widely  scat- 
tered a  grove  of  dwarf  Oak-trees. 

These  old  Oaks  can  tell  many  strange 
histories  of  Indian  times,  concerning 
the  chipping  of  stone  arrow-heads,  and 
the  fashioning  of  mortars  and  pestles, 
and  other  implements  of  both  peace 
and  war.  Those  trees  have  sheltered 
many  generations  of  confiding  birds, 
too;  they  have  showered  myriads  of 
acorns  from  their  good  green  boughs, 
and  some,  which  the  squirrel  has  bu- 
ried for  his  winter  store  and  then  for- 
gotten, have  sprung  up,  and  furnished 
timber  and  fine  wood  for  our  present 
generation. 

"  Ponderous  and   stately  stood  the  firm   old 

tree, 
'Mid  the  thick  groves,  where  moss  -  entwined 

and  gray 
The  brotherhood  stood  round,  with  lichen  tufts 
Depending  from  their  boughs,  which  up  and  out 
Fantastically  grew,  and  made  a  gloom 
E'en  at  the  cheerful  hour  of  bright  noonday. " 


George  Hood  has  in  the  town  of  San- 
ta Rosa  two  Catawba  Grape-vines  seven 
years  old,  from  a  graft  on  a  Mission 
Grape  stalk;  they  have  been  trained  up- 
on a  trellis-work,  and  cover  a  space  of 
about  1,400  square  feet.  From  these 
vines,  in  the  yard  of  an  ordinary  town 
lot,  Mr.  Hood  took  a  ton  of  Grapes. 
The  success  of  this  experiment  should 
encourage  further  effort. 


DAS  VEILCHEN. 


FROM   GOETHE. 


Lonely  and  sweet  a  violet  grew 

The  meadow  weeds  among. 
One  morn  a  rosy  shepherd  maid, 
With  careless  heart  and  idle  tread, 
Came  by, ; 
Came  by 
The  meadow  lands,  and  sung. 

"  Ah!"  said  the  violet,  "  would  I  were 

Some  stately  garden  flower ! 
Then  I  might  gathered  be,  and  pressed 
One  little  hour  to  her  sweet  breast! 
Ah,  me! 
Ah,  me! 
Only  one  little  hour!" 

On  came  the  rosy  shepherd  lass 

With  heart  that  idly  beat, 
And  crushed  the  violet  in  the  grass. 

It  only  said,  "  How  sweet! 
How  sweet!"  it  said,  with  fainting  moan, 
"If  I  must  die,  to  die  alone 
For  her, 
For  her — 
To  die  at  her  dear  feet." 

Old  and  Xew. 


RAISING  PELARGONIUMS. 

Mr.  Sisley,  well  known  as  the  origi- 
nator of  several  choice  varieties  of  dou- 
ble zonal  Pelargoniums,  describes  his 
practice  thus: 

"My  friend  Carriere,  speaking  of  my 
double  white  zonal  in  the  Revue  Horti- 
cole  of  Oct.  1st,  says  that  it  is  the  result 
of  scientific  combinations.  I  must  de- 
cline to  accept  this  encomium,  and  am 
willing  to  make  the  horticultural  world 
acquainted  with  my  very  simple  prac- 
tice, which  I  have  never  kept  a  secret. 
When,  sis  years  ago,  I  began  the  arti- 
ficial fertilization  of  zonal  Pelargoniums, 
I  procured  about  fifty  of  the  best  varie- 
ties of  single-flowered  zonal  Pelargon- 
iums of  different  colors,  and  about  200 
plants  of  the  then-existing  double-flow- 
ered varieties.  And  until  1870  I  con- 
tinued to  buy  all  the  new  double  varie- 


14 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


ties  that  were  brought  out,  and  all  the 
single-flowered  sorts  which  were  of  dif- 
ferent shades  from  those  in  my  collec- 
tion. Without  any  preconceived  theo- 
ry I  fertilized  all  the  single-flowered 
with  the  pollen  of  the  double  ones 
which  had  stamens. 

"For  three  years  I  did  not  obtain  a 
seedling  worth  mentioning,  and  I  was 
on  the  eve  of  giving  up  artificial  fecun- 
dation, when  1869  I  obtained  Yictoire 
de  Lyons  and  Clemence  Royer,  which, 
although  not  perfect  in  form,  were  very 
different  in  color  from  any  double  zonal 
Pelargoniums  then  produced.  This 
led  me  to  continue  my  efforts.  I  have 
not  learned  by  my  practice  anything 
that  can  be  called  a  theory,  because 
among  my  seedlings  coming  from  the 
same  mother  and  the  same  father  I  have 
found  them  all  differing  from  one  anoth- 
er. My  double  white  is  the  produce  of 
a  single  white  (one  of  my  seedlings,  sec- 
ond or  third  generation )  by  a  double 
red;  but  four  other  seedlings  from  the 
same  fecundation  are  either  white,  pink, 
or  red,  and  all  single  flowers. 

"And  in  this  there  is  nothing  aston- 
ishing. "Why  should  the  laws  of  nat- 
ure vary  and  act  differently  in  the  veg- 
etable world  from  what  they  do  in  the 
animal  world  ?  Nature  and  science  have 
not  yet  taught  us  why  the  offspring  of 
the  same  father  and  the  same  mother 
are  always  different  from  one  another, 
notwithstanding  their  family  likeness. 
Audit  is  very  likely  that  man  will  always 
be  ignorant  of  this.  The  only  thing 
I  know  and  every  horticulturist  knows, 
is,  that  to  obtain  double  flowers,  single 
flowers  must  be  fertilized  by  double." 


The  Apple  Cbop. — The  largest  Apple 
crop  ever  known  in  this  State  is  that  of 
the  year  just  past.  There  are  probably 
four  times  as  many  Apples  as  can  be 
consumed  to  any  advantage. 


SANDAL-WOOD. 

The  Sandal-wood  of  commerce  is  the 
product  of  various  trees  belonging  to 
the  genus  Santalum,  and  the  species 
called  Santalum  album  for  a  long  time 
furnished  the  principal  supply.  Being 
a  hard,  close-grained,  and  ornamental 
wood,  it  is  used  for  some  descriptions 
of  cabinet- work;  and  various  carved  or- 
namental and  useful  articles,  such  as 
writing-desks,  work-boxes,  card-cases, 
etc.,  are  made  of  it.  But  its  chief  char- 
acteristic consists  in  the  remarkable 
smell  of  the  wood,  which  it  owes  to  the 
presence  of  a  peculiar  volatile  oil,  ex-* 
tensively  used  by  the  natives  of  India 
as  a  perfume.  This  also  has  caused  it 
to  be  largely  used  as  incense  to  burn  in 
the  temples  of  China. 

In  course  of  time,  Sandal- wood  was 
discovered  to  be  abundant  in  some  of 
the  South  Sea  Islands,  where  it  is  the 
product  of  several  species  of  Santalums 
different  from  the  long-known  India 
one.  There  are  about  ten  species  of 
the  genus,  which  are  chieflv  restricted 
to  the  East  Indies,  Australia,  and 
Oceanica. 

The  Indian  species  are  Santalum  al- 
bum and  S.  myrtifolium.  The  former  is 
a  small  tree  from  twenty  to  twenty- five 
feet  high,  which  is  found  on  the  border 
of  Wynaad,  in  the  Peninsula,  and  in 
Mysore.  The  exports  of  the  wood  from 
Madras  are  large  —  to  Bombay,  Bengal, 
and  the  Persian  Gulf.  The  tree  grows 
in  the  islands  of  Sandal,  Timor,  Rotti, 
Savii,  Sumba,  Bali,  and  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Java,  in  the  arid  soil  of  the  low- 
er regions.  The  wood,  which,  in  its  col- 
or and  texture  resembles  Boxwood,  is 
much  sought  for  as  an  article  of  com- 
merce by  the  Chinese,  who  use  the  saw- 
dust for  making  rings  and  pastiles  for 
burning,  as  during  combustion  it  ex- 
hales an  agreeable  odor.     In  Europe 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOKTICULTUEIST. 


15 


Sandal-wood  is  chiefly  used  for  carving 
and  turning.  In  the  India  Museum, 
"Whitehall,  various  specimens  of  the  or- 
namental application  of  Sandal -wood 
in  the  East  may  be  seen  in  boxes  inlaid 
with  ivory,  a  handsome  carved  Sandal- 
wood table  from  Bombay,  and  other  ob- 
jects. The  Australian  species  of  Sandal- 
wood are  believed  to  be  derived  from 
Santalum  lanceolatum,  oblongatum,  obtus- 
ifolium,  ovatum,  and  venosum.  The  tree 
is  found  in  Queensland  and  "Western 
Australia.  At  the  London  International 
Exhibition  of  1862,  a  fine  log  of  Sandal- 
wood, weighing  4^  cwt.,  from  Black- 
wood Biver,  Western  Australia,  was 
shown;  and  another  three  feet  and  six 
inches  long  by  eleven  inches  diameter, 
from  York.  The  Australian  Sandal-wood 
is  of  an  inferior  quality  as  regards  odor. 
In  1849  as  much  as  1,204  tons  of  San- 
dal-wood, valued  at  £10,711,  were  ship- 
ped from  Western  Australia.  The  mer- 
chants bought  it  for  shipment  at  £6  to 
£6  10s.  a  ton.  The  Sandal-trees  of  any 
size  within  the  radius  of  150  miles  of 
Perth  have  now  been  cut  down,  and  lit- 
tle can  be  obtained. 

It  is  probable  that  there  are  several 
distinct  species  of  the  tree  in  the  South 
Sea  Islands  which  have  yet  to  be  botan- 
ically  determined.  The  tree  is  not  found 
on  all  the  islands  of  the  Pacific.  Its 
headquarters  would  appear  to  be  among 
those  of  the  south-western  portion,  in- 
cluding New  Caledonia,  the  Loyalty  Isl- 
ands, New  Hebrides,  Espirito  Santo, 
and  some  others.  In  the  Fiji  Islands, 
which  have  produced  several  thousand 
tons  within  the  last  thirty  years,  the 
tree  has  also  become  scarce.  It  is  only 
the  central  portion  of  the  tree  which 
produces  the  scented  yellow  wood  con- 
stituting the  Sandal-wood  of  commerce. 
The  trunk  and  larger  branches  are  cut 
into  lengths  of  from  three  to  six  feet, 
and   the  whole   of  the  bark  and  outer 


white  wood  are  chipped  off  with  the 
axe  —  an  operation  technically  called 
"cleaning."  Thus  a  log  one  foot  in  di- 
ameter is  reduced  to  a  billet  only  from 
four  to  six  inches  thick.  The  quality  of 
the  wood  depends  on  the  quantity  of 
the  oil  contained  in  it,  as  indicated  by 
the  smell  when  freshly  cut  or  burned. 
The  old  trees  produce  the  best,  and  in 
them  that  part  of  the  wood  near  the  root 
is  the  most  prized.  A  handful  of  the 
shavings  of  the  wood  will  prevent  moths 
from  attacking  clothes  of  any  descrip- 
tion; and  the  same  means  may  be  used 
to  keep  away  insects  from  specimens  of 
natural  history.  Owing  to  a  similar 
strong  aromatic  odor,  furniture  made 
of  the  fragrant  timber  of  the  bastard 
Sandal -wood  of  Australia,  (Erimophila 
Mitchelii ,  Bentham )  may  be  freed  from 
the  attacks  of  insects.  The  wood  is 
hard,  of  a  brown  color,  nicely  waved, 
and  beautifully  grained.  It  will  turn 
out  handsome  veneers  for  the  cabinet- 
maker. 

S.  Austro-Caledonicum,  of  New  Cale- 
donia, furnishes  a  kind  of  Sandal -wood 
superior  to  that  of  other  countries,  ow- 
ing to  the  strength  and  firmness  of  its 
odor.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  however, 
that  this  tree  is  being  ruthlessly  destroy- 
ed in  the  island,  as  the  wood  is  of  such 
great  use  in  perfumery.  Scarcely  any- 
thing but  the  stumps  and  roots  left 
from  former  trees  can  now  be  utilized. 
An  essential  oil,  distilled  in  England 
and  France  from  Sandal-wood,  is  sold 
at  £3  per  j)ound.  The  powdered  wood 
for  filling  sachets  and  other  uses  is  sold 
at  Is.  per  pound.  The  Pacific  species 
of  Sandal-wood  are  S.  ellipticum-  and 
S.  Freycinetianum  (Gaudichaud),  which 
are  met  with  in  the  Sandwich  Islands. 
The  latter  species  is  found  in  the  high 
mountainous  ranges  of  Tahiti;  but  the 
wood  is  of  inferior  quality,  as  it  is  not 
odoriferous,  or  only  becomes  so  by  age. 


16 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOETICULTUKIST. 


The  wood  of  Myoporum  tenuifolium 
(Foster)  is  sometimes  used  as  a  substi- 
tute for  Sandal-wood.  The  fragrance 
of  the  fresh  wood  is  very  pleasant,  but 
it  loses  its  odor  after  being  kept  some 
time. — The  American  Garden. 


THE  EVEELASTING  PEA. 

While  most  people  are  well  acquaint- 
ed with  the  Sweet  Pea,  a  charmingly 
fragrant  and  variously  colored  garden 
annual,  but  few  seem  to  know  its  peren- 
nial brother,  the  so-called  Everlasting 
Pea.  Neither  the  Sweet  nor  the  Ever- 
lasting Pea  belong  to  the  same  genus 
with  our  common  garden  Pea,  (Pisum), 
but  they  are,  more  properly  speaking, 
Vetchlings,  {Lathyrus,)  though  the  dif- 
ference between  the  two  depends  upon 
points  which  would  only  be  noticed  by 
a  botanist. 

The  best-known  of  all  the  perennial 
Peas  is  Lathyrus  latifolius,  a  native  of 
Europe;  the  stems  are  six  feet  or  more 
long,  and  broadly  winged,  the  leaves 
consist  of  a  pair  of  oval  or  lanceolate 
strongly  veined  leaflets,  terminated  by 
a  branching  tendril;  the  flowers  are  on 
stalks  longer  than  the  leaves,  several  in 
a  cluster,  large  and  showy,  of  a  lively 
purplish-rose  color.  The  plant  flowers 
very  freely,  being  in  bloom  nearly  all 
summer. .  If  planted  where  it  has  room 
to  spread,  a  single  specimen,  growing 
flat  upon  the  ground,  is  a  handsome  ob- 
ject; or  it  may  be  allowed  to  run  upon 
a  low  trellis,  or  even  over  brush,  and 
it  may  be  introduced  with  a  good  effect 
in  a  wild  part  of  the  grounds  where  its 
stems  may  hang  over  rocks,  or  trail  up- 
on banks.  There  is  a  white-flowered 
variety,  which  is  much  more  rare  than 
the  ordinary  kind,  probably  for  the  rea- 
son that  it  does  not  produce  seed  free- 
ly.    This  Pea  is  an  excellent  plant  for 


cut-flowers  for  summer  bouquets,  and 
for  that  reason  is  well  worth  growing 
for  that  purpose  alone.  A  related  spe- 
cies, L.  grandifiorus,  has  larger  flowers, 
but  only  two  or  three  in  a  cluster.  The 
seeds  of  the  Everlasting  Pea  maybe 
sown  in  spring,  or  if  they  can  be  ob- 
tained early  in  the  fall,  -and  then  sown, 
they  will  before  winter  make  plants 
large  enough  to  flower  the  next  year. 
"Well-established  plants  maybe  multi- 
plied by  dividing  the  roots. — American 
Agriculturist. 


AMPELOPSIS  TUBEEOSA  AND   NAPI- 
FOEMIS. 


A.  Tuberosa,  though  not  quite  hardy, 
is  a  plant  well  deserving  of  attention;  it 
has  slender  branches  and  smooth,  glos- 
sy, much-divided  leaves.  Its  roots, 
which  are  tuberous,  are  generally  unit- 
ed together  at  the  shoulders  into  an  ir- 
regular mass,  deep  red  or  brownish  in 
color;  in  texture  they  are  cellular,  and' 
contain  a  good  deal  of  mucilage  some- 
thing like  that  found  in  the  roots  of  the 
Chinese  Yam.  A.  napiformis  is  a  har- 
dier plant  than  A.  tuberosa,  but  close- 
ly resembles  it  in  appearance,  and, 
like  it  is  deciduous.  Its  roots,  which 
are  turnip- shaped,  are  arranged  in  clus- 
ters, fleshy  and  brittle,  and  covered 
with  a  wrinkled,  brownish  skin.  They 
are  also  abundantly  stored  with  muci- 
lage, similar  to  that  of  A.  tuberosa.  Both 
of  these  species  of  Ampelopsis,  which 
are  natives  of  China,  may  be  increased 
by  means  of  cuttings  put  in  in  spring, 
and  struck  under  a  bell-glass.  A  pea- 
ty soil  suits  them  best  when  young; 
but  when  established  they  may  be  plant- 
ed out-of-doors  in  summer,  when  they 
will  succeed  in  good  garden  mold.  Both 
kinds  possess  considerable  interest  as 
out-door  climbers  in  warm  situations. — 
Eevue  Horticole. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


17 


POETEY  OF  FLOWERS. 

BX    AN    AMATEUK. 

Where  would  the  poet  find  his  ima- 
ges of  beauty,  if  flowers  were  to  perish? 
They  are  the  emblems  of  loveliness  and 
innocence,  the  living  types  of  all  that 
is  pleasing  and  graceful.  We  compare 
young  lips  to  the  Rose,  and  the  white 
brow  to  the  Lily;  the  winning  eye  is  as 
blue  as  the  Violet,  and  the  sweet  voice  is 
a  breeze  kissing  its  way  through  the 
flowers. 

There  is  no  land  where  flowers  are 
more  plentiful  or  flourishing  than  in 
California,  or  where  they  are  more  ap- 
preciated. We  hang,  profusely  and 
charmingly,  delicate  blossoms  on  the 
ringlets  of  the  young  bride;  make  a 
floral  arch  under  which  is  performed 
the  marriage  ceremony,  and  strew  her 
path  with  flowers  as  she  leaves  the 
church.  We  place  them  around  the 
marble  face  and  loved  form  of  the  dead 
in  the  narrow  casket,  and  they  become 
emblems  of  our  warmest  and  dearest 
love  and  affections — of  pleasures  re- 
membered and  hopes  faded  —  wishes 
vanished,  and  scenes  cherished  in  our 
fondest  memory  all  the  more  because 
they  can  never  return.  We  look  to  the 
far-off  spring  in  other  valleys — to  the 
eternal  summer  beyond  the  grave,  where 
flowers  that  never  fade  bloom  in  those 
starry  fields  which  no  chilly  winter  ev- 
er blew  over.  They  come  upon  us  in 
spring,  and  even  before  in  our  warm 
clime,  like  the  remembrance  of  a  pleas- 
ant dream — a  vision  that  hovers  above 
us  in  sleep,  peopled  with  shadowy  beau- 
ties and  simple  delights,  embroidered 
with  the  richest  hues  of  fancy.  Sweet 
flowers! — that  bring  back  again  the 
scenes  of  childhood — faces  remembered 
in  youth — the  love  that  knew  not  it  was 
love!  Even  in  our  rooms  they  conjure 
up   images   of  the   mossy  or    shingly 

Vol.  V.— 3. 


bank  by  the  river's  side,  where  we 
have  many  a  time  gazed  on  the  early 
pink  Anemones,  and  where  we  have  so 
often  angled  for  the  rushing  trout. 
They  recall  the  sheltered  glen  or  canons 
darkly  green,  filled  with  the  perfume  of 
the  white  Azaleas. 

The  flush  of  early  flowers,  and  the  in- 
tervals of  bright  but  fitful  sunshine  in 
the  young  spring,  tempt  the  bees  to 
come  out,  and  you  often  see  one  go 
blundering  about  as  if  he  were  not 
thoroughly  awakened  to  the  opening 
warmth.  Tou  wonder  where  he  has 
been  hiding  himself  during  the  cool 
weather  of  our  mild  winters,  for  a  sin- 
gle glance  tells  you  that  he  is  a  wild 
bee,  and  has  a  home  somewhere  in  the 
thickets  or  chemisal  or-  some  wooded 
cafion.  Beside  the  water-courses  may 
be  found  the  Escholtszias  or  California 
Poppies,  as  large  as  Tulips  and  more 
brilliant;  and  a  pretty  sight  it  is  to  see 
them  mirrored  in  a  clear  stream,  with 
the  deep  blue  sky  reflected  far  down  be- 
low, seeming  to  lie  like  large  lumps  of. 
our  California  gold  on  the  water.  Nor 
is  it  the  early  flowers  alone  that  gives  a 
cheerful  look  to  the  opening  spring;, 
there  is  a  green  flush  upon  the  pastures 
and  sides  of  the  hills  and  mountains, 
which  becomes  deeper  every  day  since 
the  early  showers  of  our  rainy  season.. 
There  is  something  very  pleasing  in  look- 
ing upon  the  earliest  tiny  flowers  that 
are  the  first  to  bloom  so  thickly  in  the 
green -sward  and  by  the  road -sides. 
Tens  of  thousands  of  them  appear  after 
our  winter  rains,  mostly  starlike  and 
tender  and  delicate  in  all  their  various 
forms  and  hues.  These  early  flowers  of 
spring,  also,  bring  with  them  sweet  and 
sorrowful  recollections,  and  they  are 
fraught  with  the  memories  of  childhood 
and  youth;  they  bring  promise  of  bright- 
er days,  and  we  know  that  for  thou- 
sands  of    years  they  existed  here  in 


18 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUEIST. 


the  era  when  the  -wild  Indians  possessed 
this  coast:  but  on  them  Time  leaves  not 
his  gray  foot-mark,  as  he  does  on  us 
and  so  many  other  things.  The  revival 
of  our  spring  in  California  affords  the 
best  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  rich 
effects  produced  by  mosses,  lichens, 
and  fungi  upon  our  Oaks,  Buckeyes, 
Pines,  etc.  Here  we  meet  with  the  gau- 
dy and  mingled  colors  of  the  rich  green, 
the  bright  yellow,  the  glowing  orange, 
the  pale  primrose  hue,  the  silver  gray, 
with  browns  of  every  tone,  that  go  deep- 
ening down  from  the  dusky  amber  to 
the  dark  hue  of  the  more  humble  Buck- 
eye, until  they  sink  iuto  the  jetty  dark- 
ness which  mantles  the  stem  of  the  lord- 
ly and  gigantic  Oak. 


"Cttrled  Leaf"  in  Peaches.  —  Some- 
time last  spring  I  read  a  paragraph  in 
some  paper  to  the  effect  that  the  curled 
leaf  in  the  Peach  orchards  might  be  pre- 
vented by  scoring  the  trunk  and  limbs 
of  the  tree.  I  immediately  tried  the  ex- 
periment on  a  fine  large  tree  in  my 
grounds,  that  had  been  a  very  prolific 
bearer  for  the  past  five  years,  but  unfor- 
tunately lost  nearly  all  of  its  fruit  every 
year,  in  consequence  of  that  scourge. 
I  tried  everything  I  could  think  of — 
plucking  off  the  leaves,  cutting  off  the 
affected  branches,  cleaning,  and  putting 
lime,  and  ashes,  etc.,  about  the  roots, 
but  all  to  no  effect — -it  would  ripen  but 
little  fruit.  "With  my  knife  I  scored  the 
trunk  and  limbs  all  around,  as  high  as 
I  could  reach  (the  fruit  at  that  time  be- 
ing as  large  as  marbles),  since  which 
not  a  single  curled  leaf  has  made  its  ap- 
pearance, and  the  tree  has  just  yielded 
a  most  prolific  crop  of  unusually  large 
and  juicy  fruit.  I  give  my  exjDeriment 
for  what  it  is  worth,  and  leave  to  more 
experienced  men  the  proof .  —  Corre  - 
spondence  of  the  S.  F.  Call. 


THE  WINDOW    GAEDENEE. 

Edward  S.  Rand,  Jr.,  has  written  a 
very  timely  little  volume,  entitled  The 
Window  Gardener.  It  is  not  an  ambi- 
tious book,  and  does  not  aspire  to  the 
dignity  of  an  authority  on  Horticulture. 
It  seeks  to  give,  and  we  think  does  give — 
all  the  information  necessary  for  the 
culture  of  plants  in  the  parlor.  "We 
give  the  following  extracts : 

VENTILATION. 

This  must  not  be  neglected;  it  is  as 
essential  to  the  health  of  the  plants  as 
to  the  human  organization.  The  best 
method  of  providing  it  is  to  open  the 
top  of  the  window  when  the  sun's  rays 
are  hottest  on  the  plants.  The  quanti- 
ty of  air  to  be  given  must  be  propor- 
tioned to  the  outside  temperature.  In 
cold,  cloudy  days,  but  little,  and  often 
none,  should  be  given.  Care  must  be 
taken  never  to  allow  a  direct  stream  of 
cold  air  to  blow  upon  any  plant. 

WASHING. 

This  must  be  done  frequently.  A 
plant  breathes  like  an  animal,  and  not 
through  one  mouth,  but  thousands.  As 
is  well  known,  the  plant  draws  up  its 
food  from  the  soil  through  the  roots,  in 
a  liquid  form.  This  food,  very  much  di- 
luted, must  be  concentrated,  and  thus 
assimilated  to  the  plant.  We  have  in 
the  leaves  of  the  plant  a  most  beautiful 
arrangement  to  answer  this  need.  They 
are  filled  with  "  stomata,"  or  breathing 
pores,  which  allow  exhalation  when 
moisture  is  freely  supplied,  and  check  it 
when  the  supply  falls  off.  These  little 
mouths  are  found  on  both  sides  of  the 
leaf  in  most  plants,  but  usually  on  the 
lower  side  in  by  far  the  greater  number. 
They  vary  in  different  plants  from  sev- 
eral hundred  to  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  to  a  .square 
inch  of  leaf.     Now  we  are  careful  in  our 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


19 


persons  to  bathe  daily,  lest,  as  we  say, 
the  pores  of  the  skin  become  obstruct- 
ed; yet  we  are,  willing  to  allow  our 
plants  to  go  unwashed  for  a  whole  win- 
ter, when  the  pores  are  much  smaller, 
more  numerous  and  delicate,  than  those 
of  the  body.  The  rule  is  obvious:  wash 
the  leaves  of  the  plant,  both  under  and 
upper  sides,  at  least  once  a  week;  if 
oftener,  the  better.  Use  water  moder- 
ately warm,  and  if  the  plants  become 
very  dirty,  a  little  weak  soap-suds  is  ben- 
eficial. This  washing  should  be  careful- 
ly done,  with  a  soft  sponge  or  cloth  in 
the  case  of  plants  with  thick,  polished 
leaves,  such  as  Camellias,  Oranges,  and 
Daphnes.  "Where  plants  have  hairy 
leaves,  or  the  substance  is  soft,  water 
is  best  applied  with  a  small  syringe,  fit- 
ted with  a  very  fine  "rose."  To  use 
this,  place  the  plant  on  its  side  in  the 
kitchen  sink,  syringe  it  well,  turning  it 
from  side  to  side.  Let  it  stand  for  a  few 
minutes  for  the  water  to  drain  off,  and 
return  it  to  its  place :  it  will  thank  you 
for  its  bath  by  its  bright  foliage.  Nev- 
er wet  the  flowers  of  a  plant,  water  al- 
ways injures  them;  nor  allow  drops  of 
water  to  stand  on  any  leaves  in  the  sun- 
shine, the  rays  of  the  sun  form  a  focus 
in  the  drop  of  water  and  scorch  the  leaf. 
Once  a  month,  at  least,  wash  the  stem 
and  branches  of  all  the  hardwood  plants 
with  a  soft  sponge  dipped  in  lukewarm 
water;  this  prevents  the  lodgment  of  in- 
sects, and  contributes  to  the  health  of 
the  plants. 

WATERE5TG 

is  one  of  the  most  difficult  subjects  to 
prescribe  by  rule,  yet  there  are  some 
rules  of  general  application. 

Let  it  be  always  done  with  a  water- 
ing-pot with  a  fine  rose,  such  as  may  be 
procured  at  any  tinman's.  The  advan- 
tage of  this  is,  it  allows  the  water  to  fall 
drop  by  drop  over  the  whole  surface  of 
the  soil,  whereas,  if  a  pitcher  is  used, 


the  plants  are  deluged,  or  holes  made 
in  the  earth  by  the  stream  of  water,  and 
the  roots  not  unfrequently  disturbed. 

Let  it  be  done  regularly :  the  morning 
is  the  best  time,  and  once  a  day. 

The  surface  of  the  soil  should  never 
be  allowed  to  become  perfectly  dry,  nor 
•should  it  be  sodden  with  moisture.  The 
temperature  of  the  water  used  is  of  vi- 
tal importance.  It  should  neither  be 
cold  nor  warm,  but  just  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  atmosphere  of  the  room. 
Thus  no  check,  or  chill,  or  undue  ex- 
citement is  given  to  the  roots,  both  roots 
and  branches  being  equally  warm. 

A  good  plan  is,  to  set  over  night  a 
large  pan  of  water  among  your  flow- 
ers; then  you  will  be  sure  of  a  sufficien- 
cy of  water  of  the  proper  temperature 
for  the  morning  watering.  If  this  is 
too  much  trouble,  remember  in  water- 
ing, it  is  better  to  have  the  water  too 
warm  than  too  cold;  that  is,  of  a  higher 
rather  than  a  lower  temperature  than 
the  roots  and  branches.  Now  as  to 
the  quantity  of  water.  No  rule  of 
universal  application  can  be  prescribed. 
What  is  life  to  one  class  of  plants  is 
death  to  another.  The  amount  of  wa- 
ter necessary  to  make  a  Calla  Lily  thrive 
would  kill  a  Cactus  or  a  Heath,  and 
yet  the  drought  necessary  for  the  Cac- 
tus would  be  death  to  the  Heath. 

A  good  rule,  however,  is  never  to  al- 
low the  soil  to  become  dusty  or  muddy; 
and  with  drainage  in  potting  the  latter 
is  easily  prevented;  by  regular  water- 
ings, the  former.  Particulars  of  treat- 
ment for  different  plants  will  be  given 
when  treating  of  each  plant. 

Never  allow  water  to  stand  in  the 
saucers  of  the  pots  unless  the  plants 
are  semi-aquatic. 

The  Baron  de  Wimpfern,  in  1789, 
carried  out  the  first  seeds  of  Narcissus, 
Hyacinth,  and  Tiolet  ever  known  in  St. 
Doming-o. 


20 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


CALIFORNIA  FRUIT  IN  NEW  YORK. 

The  New  York  Tribune  of  November 
14th  gives  an  account  of  California 
fruit  in  New  York,  and  a  description  of 
its  carriage  across  the  continent,  from 
which  we  extract  the  following: 

"The  rapidity  with  which  fruit  can 
now  be  transported  across  the  continent 
from  California  to  this  city,  and  the 
splendid  condition  in  which  it  arrives 
in  this  market,  has  created  for  it  a 
trade  that  is  not  only  worthy  of  note, 
but  is  to  some  extent  surprising.  The 
fruit,  which  at  the  present  time  consists 
of  Bartlett  Pears,  Grerman  Prunes,  and 
Plums,  is  first  very  carefully  picked,  and 
then  turned  over  to  the  packers.  It  is 
next  sorted  with  great  care,  and  those 
which  may  be  over-ripe,  or  in  the  slight- 
est degree  damaged,  are  picked  out  and 
laid  aside  for  home  use.  During  this 
process  the  fruit  has  to  be  very  care- 
fully handled,  as  the  least  abrasion 
would  render  it  unfit  for  packing;  the 
slightest  unsoundness  of  one  Plum  or 
Pear  imperiling  the  whole  box.  The 
fruit  is  then  wrapped  carefully  in  paper, 
each  Pear  or  Plum  by  itself,  and  next 
packed  in  a  box  so  tightly  that  it  is  im- 
possible for  the  Plums  or  Pears  to  shake 
or  knock  against  each  other  while  en 
route  to  the  East .  Although  so  close- 
ly packed,  the  paper  wrappers  prevent 
any  undue  pressure  or  contact  between 
the  fruit.  The  boxes  are  made  suffi- 
ciently open  to  admit  the  air,  and  yet 
the  openings  are  not  wide  enough  for 
any  ordinary  damage  through  handling 
the  fruit.  These  boxes  are  18  inches 
long  by  12  broad,  and  when  intended 
for  Pears  are  12  inches  deep,  rendering 
them  capable  of  holding  about  200. 
When  intended  for  Plums  the  depth  is 
very  little  more  than  six  inches,  the 
box  holding  about  the  same  number  of 
that  class  of  fruit. 


"The  boxes  having  been  thus  packed, 
are  shipped  East  by  means  of  the  Dia- 
mond Refrigerator  Line,  along  the  Pa- 
cific Railroad,  and  stowed  away  in  cars 
constructed  for  the  purpose.  These 
cars  have  double  walls  of  wood,  the  in- 
tervening space  being  filled  with  cork, 
the  floor  covered  with  zinc,  and  a  roof 
in  which  is  an  ice-chest  capable  of  hold- 
ing several  tons  of  ice.  When  the  car 
is  loaded,  thick  double  doors  close  the 
cooling-chest,  an  ordinary  railroad  car- 
door  then  shutting  the  whole  from  the 
outside  world.  When  thus  closed  the 
only  air  that  can  reach  the  contents  of 
the-  car  is  through  the  air-passages;  a 
small  but  constant  current  passing  un- 
der the  eaves  of  the  car  into  the  ice- 
chest,  where  it  is  cooled  to  the  temper- 
ature of  melting  ice,  from  35  to  36  de- 
grees Fahrenheit.  This  cold  air  then 
sinks  by  its  own  weight,  through  air- 
passages  along  the  sides  and  ends  of 
the  car,  into  the  receptacle  or  store- 
house for  the  fruit,  at  the  same  time 
driving  out,  through  ventilators  in  the 
roof,  any  air  that  might  have  been  heat- 
ed inside  the  car.  The  warm  air  thus 
driven  out  is  made  to  pass  again  over 
the  ice,  and  after  being  cooled  falls  as 
before  into  the  receptacle.  By  these 
means  a  constant  current  of  air  of  even 
temperature  is  kept  up — not  cold  enough 
to  freeze  the  fruit,  but  sufficiently  cold 
to  prevent  any  change' taking  place  in 
its  condition.  WTkole  car-loads  of  per- 
ishable fruit  are  thus  consigned  in  Cal- 
ifornia to  persons  in  this  city,  and  arrive 
in  the  market  in  an  excellent  condition. 
The  cost  of  transit  is  very  great,  a  cer- 
tain car-load,  consisting  of  340  boxes 
of  Pears  and  299  boxes  of  Plums  and 
Prunes,  having  cost,  for  freight  and 
charges  alone,  $1,200.  But,  as  the 
fruit  realized  at  wholesale,  upon  the  av- 
erage, about  $5  per  box,  the  shipment 
of  a  car  of  fruit  at  this  time  of  the  year 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICULTURIST. 


21 


proves  to  be  somewhat  of  a  profitable 
investment,  the  gross  receipts  being 
over  $3,000  per  car." 


TREE -PLANTING  IN  NEW  ZEALAND. 

'  The  New  Zealand  Government  is  tak- 
ing up  the  subject  of  state  forests  in  a 
comprehensive  manner.  Mr.  Vogel, 
who  considers  it  "the  largest  question 
demanding  consideration  at  the  present 
time"  in  New  Zealand,  has  just  intro- 
duced to  the  General  Assembly  a  bill 
to  provide  for  the  establishment  of  State 
forests,  with  the  objects  of  making  pro- 
vision "for  preserving  the  soil  and  cli- 
mate by  tree-planting,  for  providing  tim- 
ber for  future  industrial  purposes,  for 
subjecting  some  portion  of  the  native 
forests  to  skilled  management  and  con- 
trol, and  for  these  purposes  to  consti- 
tute State  forests."  The  revenue  here- 
after to  be  derived  from  these  forests 
is  to  be  devoted  to  the  purpose  of  pay- 
ing off  the  public  debt.  It  is  proposed 
to  spend,  annually  for  the  next  ten 
years ,  a  sum  of  £  10 ,  000  for  carrying 
out  the  scheme  of  forest  development, 
and  to  select  three  per  cent,  of  the  area 
of  the  whole  territory  for  forest  opera- 
tions. This  money  is  to  be  expended 
on  the  management  of  state  forests, 
the  acquisition  of  land  by  renting  or 
purchase,  the  instruction  in  forestry  of 
persons  employed  in  the  management 
of  the  forests,  the  establishment  of 
schools  and  colleges  for  teaching  forest- 
ry, and  so  forth.  A  department  for 
the  management  of  the  forests  is  to  be 
created,  consisting  of  a  commissioner, 
who  is  to  be  a  responsible  minister  of 
the  crown,  a  conservator  and  two  as- 
sistant conservators.  With  regard  to 
the  amount  of  revenue  likely  to  be  de- 
rived from  planting,  Mr.  Vogel's  expec- 
tations are  decidedly  of  a  sanguine  nat- 


ure. They  are  based  on  calculations 
made  by  T.  Calcutt,  of  Otago,  who  is 
stated  to  be  a  competent  authority.  Mr. 
Calcutt  shows  the  cost  of  planting  and 
subsequent  management  of  100  acres  of 
suitable  land  in  trees.  Starting  on  the 
basis  that  the  land  is  obtained  free  of 
cost,  he  estimates  the  expense  during 
the  first  year  for  plowing,  subsoiling, 
trenching,  seed-planting,  weeding,  and 
the  like,  fencing  and  contingencies,  at 
£500.  For  a  period  of  five  years  £100 
a  year  is  allowed  for  labor.  The  trees 
are  to  stand  five  feet  apart,  so  that  100 
acres  would, contain  174,500  trees;  and 
in  the  sixth  year  an  income  would  be- 
gin to  be  derived  by  thinning  out  to  10 
feet  apart,  "thus  taking  away  130,700 
trees,  which,  at  an  average  of  3d.  each, 
would  yield  £1,533  15s.,  for  an  outlay 
of  £1,038  15s.,  leaving  a  balance  of 
£495."  At  the  end  of  ten  years  the  re- 
maining trees  are  valued  at  2s.  6d.  each, 
equal  to  £5,412  10s.,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty  years  £1  each,  or  £43,500.  He 
concludes  by  affirming  that  "£10,000 
expended  properly  in  planting  trees 
would,  within  thirty  years,  result  in 
their  having  a  market  value  of  half  a 
million  sterling. "  The  kind  of  tree  pro- 
posed to  be  planted  as  the  easiest  to 
rear,  and  the  quickest  growing,  is  the 
Australian  Gum. — Melbourne  Leader. 


STRENGTH  AND  DECAY  OF  TIMBER. 

Some  questions  have  been  raised  of 
late  about  the  durability  of  the  Fir  tim- 
ber of  this  coast.  Fir  piles  driven  into 
the  mud  last  a  long  time  if  the  teredo 
lets  them  alone.  Thus,  on  Long  Bridge 
it  is  found  that  the  piles  of  Fir  will  en- 
dure as  long  as  three  sets  of  beams  or 
cross  timbers.  Very  extensive  repairs 
are  now  being  made  on  this  bridge.  Ma- 
ny of  the  old  beams  have  been  removed 


22 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


and  new  ones  put  in.  Of  course  these 
beams  were  not  worn  out,  and  the  exte- 
rior appearance  indicated  sound  timber. 
But  on  boring  into  the  centre  it  was 
found  that  decay  had  set  in,  and  in 
some  instances  it  was  far  advanced.  So, 
the  bottom  of  a  ship  framed  of  Fir  will 
outlast  two  or  three  sets  of  top  timbers 
of  the  same  material.  The  best  that 
can  be  said  of  Fir  on  the  point  of  dura- 
bility is,  that  it  is  a  middle-class  tim- 
ber, neither  the  best  nor  the  poorest. 
But  its  great  strength  and  cheapness 
make  it  the  most  available  timber  on 
this  coast. 

There  were  on  exhibition  at  the  Me- 
chanic's Fair,  several  samples  of  timber 
from  the  Eucalyptus-tree.  The  break- 
ing strain  shows  it  to  be  all  that  could 
be  desired  in  this  particular.  The  tim- 
ber from  the  Bed  Gum  resembles  Mex- 
ican Cedar,  but  is  more  dense.  It  is  a 
very  handsome  timber,  and  will  yet  have 
a  prominent  place  in  the  list  of  woods 
for  ornamental  use. — Bulletin. 


THE  FALL   OF  THE  LEAF. 

The  phenomenon  of  the  "fall  of  the 
leaf,"  common  as  it  is,  is  very  difficult 
to  explain  satisfactorily.  The  follow- 
ing are  the  facts,  so  far  as  we  under- 
stand them,  which  are  exceedingly  in- 
teresting and  instructive.  It  seems 
that  nature  begins  the  provision  for 
separation  almost  as  soon  as  the  leaf  is 
born  in  spring.  When  first  put  forth 
into  the  atmosphere  the  stalk  of  the 
leaf,  supposing  one  to  be  present,  is 
continuous  with  the  stem.  As  the  leaf 
and  its  stem  grow,  however,  an  inter- 
ruption between  their  tissues  (fibrous 
and  cellular)  occurs  at  the  base  of  the 
leaf-stalk,  by  means  of  which  a  more  or 
less  complete  articulation  or  joint  is 
gradually  and  ultimately  formed.     This 


articulation  is  produced  by  the  contin- 
uation of  the  growth  of  the  stem  after 
the  leaf  has  attained  its  full  growth, 
which  it  generally  does  in  a  few  weeks. 
The  growth  of  the  leaf  being  complet- 
ed, the  base  of  its  petiole,  or  foot-stalk, 
is  no  longer  able  to  adapt  itself  to  the 
increasing  diameter  of  the  stem,  and  a 
fracture  between  that  base  and  the  stem 
necessarily  ensues  ;  the  excision  advan- 
ces from  without  inward,  until  it  finally 
reaches  the  bundles  of  woody  fibre  which 
form  the  main  support  of  the  leaf. 
"While,  however  nature  is  forming  a 
wound,  she  is  at  the  same  time  mak- 
ing provision  to  heal  it,  for  the  cuticle 
or  epidermis  of  the  stem  is  seen  to  grow 
over  the  surface  of  the  scar,  so  that  when 
the  leaf  is  detached  the  tree  does  not 
suffer  from  the  effects  of  an  open  wound. 
The  provision  for  separation  being  thus 
completed,  the  leaf  is  parted  from  the 
stem  by  the  growth  of  the  twig  at  the 
bud  base,  the  force  of  the  wind,  or  even 
by  its  own  weight.  Therefore,  as  soon 
as  the  glorious  colors  of  the  autumn 
leaves  begin  to  fade,  this  provision  for 
separation  is  completed,  and  the  winds 
sing  their  death- dirge  as  they  carry 
them  away  from  their  summer's  home 
on  the  branches  of  the  trees,  and  scat- 
ter them  in  countless  numbers  upon  the 
ground.  The  fall  of  the  leaf  is,  therefore, 
the  regular  vital  process,  which  com- 
mences with  the  first  formation  of  the 
leaf,  and  is  only  completed  when  it  is 
no  longer  useful  to  the  tree.  There  is 
no  denying,  however,  that  the  frosts  of 
autumn,  by  suddenly  contracting  the  tis- 
sues at  the  base  of  the  leaf-stalk,  accel- 
erate the  fall  of  the  leaves.  All  must 
have  noticed,  on  a  frosty  morning  in 
autumn,  that  the  slightest  breath  of  air 
moving  among  the  decayed  and  dying 
leaves  will  bring  them  in  complete  show- 
ers from  the  trees  to  the  ground.  The 
leaves  of   the  Beech,  Hornbeam,  and 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


23 


Oak  die  in  autumn,  but  frequently  re- 
main attached  to  these  trees  through- 
out the  winter  months,  provided  that 
the  trees  are  not  so  situated  as  to  be  ex- 
posed to  violent  winds.  Such  leaves, 
when  examined,  will  be  found  to  be 
continuous  with  the  stem,  and  therefore 
without  that  articulation  or  joint  which 
so  naturally  assists  in  the  separation  of 
the  leaf  from  the  tree.  Those  dead 
leaves  fall  off  when  the  new  leaves  are 
put  forth  in  spring;  they  are,  in  fact, 
pushed  off  by  the  expansion  of  the  stem 
when  the  growth  of  the  season  com- 
mences. The  leaves  of  evergreen  trees 
and  shrubs,  and  of  coniferous  trees,  as 
the  Pine  and  Fir,  do  not  fall  in  autumn, 
but  in  spring,  when  the  growth  of  the 
season  is  proceeding;  and,  as  this  an- 
nual leaf -fall  is  only  partial,  consisting 
of  one-half  or  one-third  at  a  time,  there 
is  always  a  sufficient  number  of  leaves 
left  on  such  trees  to  keep  them  clothed 
with  perpetual  verdure.  Hence  it  is 
that  their  foliage  consists  of  leaves  which 
have  been  attached  to  the  stem  from 
one  to  three  or  five  successive  years. — 
The  London  Garden. 


Removing  Trees  by  Steam. — A  meth- 
od of  removing  trees  by  dragging  them 
out  by  the  roots  by  a  steam-engine,  has 
been  successfully  introduced  on  the 
Duke  of  Sutherland's  estate  in  Scotland. 
The  engine  (a  twelve-horse  power,  be- 
ing one  generally  used  for  plowing), 
was  placed  in  a  field  150  yards  distant 
from  the  trees;  a  chain  was  passed 
round  each  at  some  distance  from  the 
ground,  and  the  engine  being  then  set 
on,  the  tree  was  tumbled  over  and 
dragged  out  with  a  large  ball  of  earth 
adhering  to  the  roots.  In  this  way,  300 
trees,  from  six  to  twelve  inches  diame- 
ter, were  removed  in  a  few  hours;  but 
trees  of  three  feet  diameter  have  been 
dragged  out  by  the  same  means. 


PRUNING  DOUBLE-FLOWERING  PEACH 
AND  ALMOND  TREES. 

Several  years  ago  I  saw  tbe  statement 
in  a  well  known  horticultural  journal, 
that  it  was  not  advisable  to  cultivate 
the  double -flowering  Peach  and  Al- 
mond, because  when  old  they  had  an 
unsightly  appearance  —  although  the 
writer  admitted  that  when  young  they 
were  veiy  beautiful.  I  propose  to  show 
that  with  fproper  pruning  they  retain 
their  beauty  as  they  become  old. 

As  the  Peach  and  the  Almond  pro- 
duce their  flowers  on  wood  of  the  pre- 
vious year's  growth,  and  as  the  shoots 
year  by  year  grow  longer,  the  lower 
parts  of  the  branches  necessarily  be- 
come bare  of  flowering  wood,  while 
only  the  upper  parts  of  the  shoots  pro- 
duce leaves  and  flowers.  In  this  way 
the  tree  becomes  unsymmetrical  and  un- 
sightly. In  pruning  the  ordinary  Peach- 
tree  the  shoots  of  the  previous  year  are 
cut  back  to  one -half  or  two -thirds 
their  length,  and  if  this  practice  were 
applied  to  the  double-flowering  Peach 
and  Almond,  it  is  evident  that  one-half 
of  the  blossoms  would  be  sacrificed  ev- 
ery season. 

Several  double-flowering  Peach  and 
Almond  trees  which  were  growing  in 
my  garden  had  begun  to  show  the  bad 
effects  of  non-pruning.  As  this  could 
not  be  remedied  by  an  annual  shorten- 
ing in  at  the  regular  pruning  season,  I 
saw  with  regret  the  beauty  of  the  trees 
gradually  disappear.  As  no  means  of 
preventing  it  occurred  to  my  mind,  I  ap- 
plied to  a  number  of  experienced  hor- 
ticultural friends,  but  was  unable  to  ob- 
tain the  needful  advice.  Just  at  that 
time  I  received  from  a  nursery  some 
trees  which  by  mistake  had  been  de- 
layed seven  weeks  and  reached  me  as 
late  as  the  loth  of  May.  On  opening 
the  package  I  found  that  the  Peach  and 


24 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOBTICULTUBIST. 


Alraond  trees  had  commenced  growing, 
the  shoots  being  as  white  and  leafless  as 
young  Asparagus,  so  that  I  had  little 
hope  of  doing  much  with  them.  But, 
after  all  the  young  white  shoots  had 
been  cut  off,  and  the  stems  had  been 
pruned  back  until  they  resembled  walk- 
ing-canes not  much  over  three  feet 
high,  I  planted  them.  Shortly  after 
this  planting  I  was  agreeably  surprised 
to  find  that  a  number  of  dormant  eyes 
began  to  break,  and  make  a  vigorous 
growth  during  the  ensuing  summer, 
blooming  beautifully  the  following 
spring.  I  was  also  enabled,  by  thin- 
ning out  all  unnecessary  shoots,  to 
bring  the  heads  of  trees  to  good  form. 
Profiting  by  this  experience,  I  cut 
back  each  of  the  shoots  to  two  or  three 
eyes  immediately  after  they  had  bloom- 
ed. These  eyes  then  pushed  out  shoots 
which  made  a  fine  growth  during  the 
summer  and  formed  flower  -  buds  in 
abundance.  The  next  spring  I  pursued 
the  same  course  with  the  like  gratifying 
result,  the  heads  of  the  trees  becoming 
nearly  doubled  in  size.  And  now  every 
spring  they  are  covered  with  an  abun- 
dance of  their  beautiful  blossoms;  not 
one  has  a  bare  shoot,  and  they  excite 
the  admiration  of  all  who  see  them.  I 
cultivate  all  the  varieties  of  the  double- 
flowering  Peach,  and  I  think  nothing 
more  elegant  and  imposing  than  they 
when  in  full  bloom  after  being  thus 
treated.  The  red  and  the  white  Dwarf 
Almond,  when  being  grafted  or  budded 
either  on  Peach  or  Plum  stocks,  should 
be  pruned  in  the  same  way.  They  then 
make  charming  little  trees.  —  Corre- 
spondence of  The  American  Garden. 

The  Gazzerat  Wheat,  Barley,  Ash- 
mond  Bice,  Pulse,  etc.,  as  also  a  species 
of  Mangosteen — plants  taken  to  Jamai- 
ca by  the  Earl  of  Effery  in  1790— suc- 
ceeded beyond  expectation. 


THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FLAX. 


It  has  bee~i  suggested  that  California 
is  wonderfully  adapted  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  Flax,  and  its  manufacture  into 
pieces  of  linen  for  all  the  coarser  pur- 
poses, such  as  towels,  crash,  and  simi- 
lar uses,  and  eventually,  if  not  at  once, 
for  the  finer  and  more  delicate  and  cost- 
ly fabrics.  In  our  Eastern  States  the 
weather  is  too  uncertain,  the  rain  too 
certain  at  times,  and  on  the  seaboard 
the  fogs  during  a  portion  of  the  sum- 
mer altogether  too  common,  for  the 
preparation  of  the  Flax  after  it  has  been 
pulled.  If  rain  and  cloudy  weather  in 
the  warm  days  of  summer  and  autumn, 
and  particularly  if  the  fogs  which  in- 
vades the  sea- shore  counties  and  vi- 
cinity of  rivers  and  lakes,  comes  upon 
the  Flax  spread  out  for  the  outer  cover- 
ing to  rot,  it  is  more  than  likely  to  mil- 
dew and  be  ruined,  particularly  for  any 
nice  manufacture.  But  away  from  the 
region  of  our  fogs,  no  such  objection 
lies  against  Flax  culture  on  this  coast. 
During  our  long  summer  months  we 
have  no  rain  at  all. 

We  have  an  unbroken  summer  of  dry 
weather.  In  extensive  portions  of  the 
State  we  have  not  a  particle  of  dew,  ev- 
en. And  where  fogs  prevail  generally, 
except  on  the  immediate  coast,  they 
float  away  early  in  the  day  and  leave  a 
clear  and  beautiful  sky  and  sun.  That 
our  soil  is  well  adapted  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  Flax  we  have  no  doubt,  although 
we  can  not  speak  from  experience  an  d 
observation.  If  the  supposition  is  cor- 
rect, why  should  not  California  not  on- 
ly produce  Flax  and  the  coarser  articles 
of  linen  manufactured  from  it,  but  also 
fine  linen  ?  When  such  shall  be  the 
case,  we  may  expect  real  linen  when  we 
purchase  what  is  called  such.  Now, 
that  which  is  sold  for  linen  almost  in- 
variably is  composed  in  part  of  cotton, 


^>\<£  jiJ^T' 


LOBELIA  PUMILA  GRANDIFLORA  FLORA  PLENA. 

One  of  the  greatest  acquisitions  of  the  season.  It  is  a  beautiful  light  blue  color, 
resembling  the  shade  of  the  Neopolitau  Violet.  The  flowers  are  large,  full  and  very 
double.    It  is  a  free  bloomer,  as  well  as  a  fine  grower. 

The  above  plate  is  a  very  good  representation  of  it,  but  it  should  be  seen  to  be 
appreciated. 

Price,        -         -  $1.00  each. 


Grr/wn  and  for  Sale  by 

MILLER   8z.    SIBVERS, 


27  Post  Street,  San   Franeiseo,  Cal. 


LOA.O.  Printer,  PKiln 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


25 


and  often  in  very  considerable  propor- 
tion. Some  of  our  intelligent  cultiva- 
tors of  the  soil  must  know  by  experience 
and  observation  whether  we  are  right 
in  this  supposition,  and  we  should  be 
pleased  to  hear  from  them  on  the  sub- 
ject.— Alia. 


FANCY  WORK  WITH  AUTUMN   LEAVES. 


The  bright  tints  of  autumn  leaves  are 
very  lovely  for  ornamenting  our  par- 
lors, boudoirs,  and  dining-tables.  Brack- 
ets and  picture-frames  can  also  be  adorn- 
ed with  them,  and  they  add  greatly  to 
the  beauty  of  one's  surroundings.  Col- 
lect a  large  quantity,  combining  every 
hue,  from  crimson  to  scarlet,  from  scar- 
let to  yellow,  and  from  yellow  to  green. 
The  red  Beech  and  the  beautiful  varie- 
gated Sumach  are  very  desirable,  as  al- 
so are  the  Oak,  and  Ferns,  but  the  Ma- 
ple exceeds  them  all  in  the  great  varie- 
ty of  its  tints,  and  the  various  sizes  of 
its  leaves.  Smooth  every  leaf  on  the 
wrong  side,  with  a  moderately  warm 
iron,  holding  it  upon  the  leaf  only  a 
minute.  Then  take  a  camel's-hair  pen- 
cil, and  a  little  Olive  oil,  and  carefully 
brush  over  every  part  of  the  leaf.  Place 
them  on  a  flat  surface  to  dry,  and  let 
them  remain  until  the  next  day.  For 
wiring  these  leaves  into  garlands,  &c, 
or  for  preparing  them  for  bouquets, 
take  the  fine  green-covered  reel  wire, 
such  as  is  always  used  in  manufactur- 
ing wax  flowers,  and  attach  it  around 
the  stem,  first  laying  it  so  that  it  will 
extend  the  entire  length  of  the  leaf  to 
support  it.  Afterward  wind  around 
each  stem  to  conceal  the  wire,  either 
narrow  strips  of  green  tissue  paper,  or 
brown  Berlin  worsted,  and  join  the 
leaves  together  in  sprays;  of  course  the 
individual  leaves  on  each  spray  must 
be  of  the  same  species.  Prepare  a 
large  number  of  these  sprays  mounted 

Vol.  V.— 4. 


on  wires,  and  then  arrange  them  in 
vases,  about  picture-frames,  over  mir- 
rors, and  as  ornaments  to  lace  curtains, 
and  your  apartments  will  present  a  fes- 
tive appearance,  although  the  dreary 
winter  weather  has  browned  the  face  of 
nature.  Oak-leaves,  Acorns,  and  bright- 
ly colored  Beans,  gummed  upon  a  card- 
board frame,  will  make  handsome  cor- 
ner brackets  or  wall-pockets  and  vases 
to  hold  your  beautiful  leaves .  The 
Acorns  and  Beans  ought  first  to  be  cut 
in  half,  when  used  for  this  purpose. 


AMEEICAN  GEAPE  CULTUEE. 

The  admirable  report  of  Prof.  Plan- 
chon,  for  the  French  Government,  has 
been  translated  for  "  Our  Home  Jour- 
nal" of  New  Orleans.  We  give  the  fol- 
lowing from  this  source,  in  relation  to 
the  experiments  in  this  country  with 
the  European  Grape,  in  connection 
with  the  Phylloxera: 

"In  1633,  "William  Penn  essayed  in 
vain  to  cultivate  the  Grape  of  Europe 
in  Pennsylvania.  In  1790,  a  colony  of 
Swiss,  faithful  to  their  generous  vines 
of  Leman,  attempted  to  grow  them  in 
the  county  of  Jessamine,  Kentucky.  A 
fund  of  $10,000  was  uselessly  spent  in 
this  enterprise.  In  1801,  they  trans- 
ported their  penates  to  Yevay,  Indiana, 
in  the  thirty-ninth  degree  of  latitude. 
They  cultivated  there  with  better  suc- 
cess a  seedling,  said  to  be  indigenous, 
which  they  called  the  Schuylkill  Musca- 
tal  or  Cape  Grape ;  but  this  variety,  now 
almost  abandoned,  must  have  proved  to 
be  unproductive,  because  the  vineyards 
of  this  colony  gradually  declined,  and 
in  1819  the  botanist  Nuttall  saw  fields 
of  grain  waving  over  the  earth  once  oc- 
cupied by  them.  To-day,  Vevay  re- 
tains nothing  Swiss  but  its  name,  and 
of  its  vines  only  a  few  scattered  individ- 


26 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


uals.  The  same  check  occurred  to  the 
vineyard  of  an  obscure  laborer  from  Lor- 
raine, named  Pierre  Legand,  who,  to- 
ward the  end  of  the  last  century,  made 
repeated  and  obstinately  persevering 
efforts  to  cultivate,  near  Philadelphia, 
roots  from  France,  Spain  and  Portugal. 
Two  analogous  unsuccessful  attempts 
are  well  known,  those  of  our  compatri- 
ots of  the  Field  of  Asylum,  and  that  of 
Lakanal.  Chased  out  of  Texas,  where 
they  had  first  established  themselves, 
the  first  old  soldiers  of  the  Empire 
founded  upon  the  banks  of  the  Tom- 
bigbee  River,  in  Marengo,  Alabama,  a 
small  agricultural  colony.  They  were 
naturally  desirous  to  cultivate  the  vines 
of  Europe,  but  all  their  cares  ended  in 
deceptions.  Lakanal,  their  companion 
in  exile,  whose  name  remains  attached 
with  honor  to  the  Institute  and  the  Mu- 
seum of  Natural  History,  made  equally 
vain  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  European 
vines,  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Ohio, 
and  Alabama.  It  would  be  fatiguing 
to  multiply  the  examples.  The  num- 
ber is  large,  over  all  the  extent  of  the 
Union,  and  I  could  easily  gather  them 
up  out  of  the  American  books  on  vini- 
culture. But  I  will  speak  only  of  one 
quite  recent,  which  I  have  seen,  from 
notes  I  made  in  September,  1873.  Kel- 
ley's  Island,  in  Lake  Erie,  is  a  charm- 
ing place,  whose  vineyards  make  it 
wealthy.  This  culture  dates  only  from 
1848 .  One  of  the  first  colonists,  a  Ger- 
man by  birth,  the  late  Thomas  Rush, 
planted  there,  in  1860,  eight  hundred 
roots  of  German  vines,  comprising  sev- 
enteen varieties,  all  coming  from  Neu- 
stadt,  on  the  Hardt,  in  Bavaria.  These 
vines  pushed  admirably  during  three 
years,  since  which  they  declined  rapid- 
ly, and  were  replaced  by  indigenous 
roots.  The  only  European  roots  I  saw 
living  there,  very  miserable  indeed,  and 
with  roots  garnished  with  Phylloxera, 


were  two  or  three  Trammer,  a  variety 
well  known  in  Germany,  which,  per- 
haps, resists  somewhat  the  Phylloxera. 
All  these  facts  have  convinced  the  Amer- 
icans that  European  vines  will  not  flour- 
ish in  their  country.  This  can  not  be 
the  effect  of  climate,  because  America 
has  every  sort  of  climate,  from  Florida 
and  Louisiana,  where  the  Banana  ri- 
pens, to  Canada,  where  rivers  freeze  over 
every  year;  and  vines  have  been  brought 
from  everywhere  in  Europe.  The  same 
soils  are  found  on  both  sides  of  the  At- 
lantic. It  is  only  in  California  that  the 
European  vines,  planted  by  the  Span- 
iards, flourish!  The  reason  of  this  de- 
struction is  very  small  in  appearance, 
but  fearful  in  its  devastations.  It  is 
only  the  Phylloxera!  This  cause,  first 
recognized  by  Riley,  and  confirmed  by 
my  recent  severe  examinations  and  care- 
ful study,  is  certain.  California  is  filled 
with  European  vines !  It  has  not  yet  the 
Phylloxera!  East  of  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains it  reigns  supreme!  Some  of  the 
American  vines  resist  it.  Let  us  study 
their  characteristics." 


California  Nutmeg. — From  R.  M. 
Cochran  we  had  the  pleasure  of  receiv- 
ing a  branch  of  the  California  Nutmeg- 
tree.  It  represents,  as  near  as  we  can 
judge,  the  pinnate  leaves  with  the  nuts 
growing  at  the  extremities  of  the  stems. 
It  is  an  evergreen,  and  grows  from  fif- 
teen to  thirty  feet  high.  The  nut, 
about  the  size  of  a  common  Plum,  is 
concealed  in  an  outer  covering,  which 
on  being  taken  off  discloses  the  hard 
nut.  The  meat  is  of  a  reddish  color 
with  white  heart,  and  has  the  flavor  of 
the  Nutmeg.  Mr.  Cochran  got  this 
branch  from  a  tree  on  the  Humboldt 
road,  and  he  thinks  it  would  make  a 
handsome  ornamental  tree  for  a  city 
garden. — Chico  Enterprise. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


27 


THE  SNOW  -  PLANT  OF  THE  SIERRA. 


(Sarcodes  Sanguined,  Torrey). —  One 
of  the  grandest  objects  which  meets  the 
eye  of  the  traveler  in  our  mountains  is 
the  exquisite  plant  whose  name  we  have 
quoted  at  the  head  of  our  article.  It 
is  an  inhabitant  only  of  the  higher  Sier- 
ra, being  rarely  found  below  an  alti- 
tude of  4,000  feet,  and  its  glorious  crim- 
son spike  of  flowers  may  be  seen  early 
in  May  forcing  itself  through  the  snows 
which  at  that  period  cling  about  the 
sides  of  our  Pine  forests.  The  portion 
of  the  plant  which  is  visible  above  the 
soil  is*  a  bright  rosy  crimson  in  color, 
and  presents  the  very  strongest  contrast 
to  the  dark  green  of  the  Pines  and  the 
"shimmer  of  the  snow."  Its  root  is 
succulent,  thick,  and  abundantly  full 
of  moisture,  attaching  itself  to  the  roots 
of  other  plants,  principally  to  the  spe- 
cies of  the  Pine  family.  Hence  it  is 
among  those  curious  members  of  the 
vegetable  world  which  are  known  to  bot- 
anists as  parasites,  and  is  consequently 
entirely  incapable  of  cultivation.  The 
deer  are  extremely  fond  of  it,  and  it  is 
not  an  uncommon  circumstance  to  find 
a  number  of  the  plants  uprooted  and 
robbed  of  the  fleshy  part  of  their  under- 
ground growth  by  these  animals.  It 
belongs  to  the  natural  order  Orobancha- 
cea,  and  is  met  with  through  the  whole 
of  the  Sierra  region,  becoming  rarer  as 
we  approach  the  south.  It  must  have 
been  a  rare,  treat  to  an  enthusiastic  bot- 
anist like  John  Torrey  to  have  figured 
and  described  this  exquisite  flower,  and 
must  have  furnished  him  with  a  joy 
such  as  none  but  those  of  similar  pur- 
suits can  know. 

A  magnificent  specimen  of  the  plant, 
one  of  the  largest  ever  seen  in  Califor- 
nia, was  brought  not  long  since  from 
the  Mammoth  Grove,  Calaveras  Coun- 
ty, by  Harry  Edwards,  and  may  now  be 


seen  at  the  Bohemian  Club-rooms.  This 
specimen  measures  twenty-eight  inches 
in  length,  inclusive  of  the  root,  the  spike 
of  flowers  being  over  thirteen  inches, 
and  containing  ninety -eight  separate 
blossoms.  It  has  been  photographed 
by  Bradley  &  Bulofson,  and  is  well 
worthy  of  the  examination  of  all  who 
are  interested  in  the  botany  of  this 
State.  — Bulletin. 


Ikkigation  and  Alkali.  —  Col .  Dud- 
ley, of  the  Third  Cavalry,  U.  S.  A.,  has 
written  to  the  Nebraska  State  Horticult- 
ural Society  an  account  of  his  experi- 
ments in  agriculture  in  Lodge  -  pole 
Creek  Valley,  400  miles  west  of  the 
Missouri  River.  An  epitome  of  the  let- 
ter states  that  the  soil  of  this  valley  is 
very  rich,  and  the  application  of  horse- 
manure  to  "  fertilize  "  it  proved  a  posi- 
tive injury.  The  excess  of  alkali  is  no 
detriment  so  long  as  the  land  is  proper- 
ly irrigated.  Colonel  Dudley  worked 
several  acres,  with  the  greatest  success. 
In  the  first  place  the  land  has  to  be 
thoroughly  plowed  and  harrowed.  It 
is  then  laid  out  in  long,  narrow  beds, 
with  small  ditches  between  for  conduct- 
ing the  water.  The  water  is  not  per- 
mitted to  overrun  the  tops  of  the  beds, 
but  is  allowed  to  run  into  and  fill  the 
ditches  a  few  times  during  the  season, 
remaining  long  enough  to  ooze  through 
the  soil,  so  as  to  moisten  the  roots  of 
the  vegetables.  Some  kinds  of  vegeta- 
bles were  found  to  require  less  water 
than  others,  and,  to  regulate  this,  all 
that  was  needed  was  a  small  piece  of 
board  at  the  end  of  a  ditch  or  furrow  to 
keep  the  water  from  coming  in  contact 
with  certain  beds.  The  garrison  at 
Sidney  Barracks,  in  the  valley,  consists 
of  about  150  men,  and  they  have  more 
Corn,  Onions,  Beets,  Squashes,  Peas, 
and  Beans  than  they  want,  and  bushels 
of  Cucumbers  are  going  to  waste. 


28 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


KAISIN   CULTURE  IN   CALIFORNIA. 

Horticulture  will  take  a  new  depart- 
ure this  season  in  regard  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  raisin  Grapes.  It  having  been 
demonstrated  by  years  of  actual  expe- 
rience that  this  is  agood  Grape  country, 
and  that  the  culture  of  raisin  Grapes 
is  a  sure  and  profitable  business,  many 
will  immediately  embark  in  the  busi- 
ness, to  be  followed  by  thousands  of 
others.  It  being  a  business  requiring 
little  or  no  capital,  and  one  in  which 
immediate  returns  may  be  had,  it  must 
become  one  of  the  most  general  indus- 
tries. It  is  one  peculiarly  adapted  to 
land  in  the  foot-hills  of  this  State, 
where  the  Grape  grows  very  luxuriantly, 
and  where  hundreds  of  tons  of  the  best 
raisins  could  be  produced  annually.  The 
vineyard  once  bearing,  the  entire  labor 
of  picking,  drying,  and  boxing  could 
be  performed  by  the  husband  and  wife, 
assisted  by  their  family.  The  only  out- 
lay would  be  the  cost  of  box-lumber, 
which  is  now  quite  cheap.  The  increas- 
ing demand  for  our  raisins  renders  a 
sale  positive,  and  at  remunerative  cash 
prices. 

There  is  a  wide  market  for  rais- 
ins suitable  for  cooking,  and  it  is  a 
field  of  industry  which  the  people  of 
California,  who  are  compelled  to  earn 
a  livelihood,  should  not  be  slow  in  en- 
tering. A  few  acres  of  vines  of  the  best 
raisin  variety  will  produce  a  thousand 
or  two  thouand  dollars  worth  of  raisins 
annually,  and  the  expenses  would  prove 
trifling,  where  the  labor  was  performed 
by  the  hands  of  the  family.  Raisin-mak- 
ing is  far  preferable  to  wine  manufacture. 
Our  wines  are  cheap,  and  the  cost  of 
pressing,  casking,  and  getting  to  mar- 
ket is  much  more  than  raisins.  Where 
the  viniculturist  has  vines  adapted  to 
wine-making  he  can  easily  substitute  the 
best  raisin  Grape  by  grafting.     We  ob- 


serve that  this  change  is  in  progress  in 
many  parts  of  the  State,  and  that  the 
white  Muscat  is  being  grafted  upon  the 
old  cions.  There  a  new  variety  called 
the  Peruvian  Huasco,  which  is  to  be 
tried  by  our  horticulturists.  It  is  said 
that  raisins  from  this  variety  of  Grape 
have  a  very  pleasant  flavor,  and  are  be- 
lieved to  be  preferable  to  the  Muscat. 
An  increased  attention  is  also  being  giv- 
en to  curing  or  drying  of  raisins,  and  it 
is  probable  that  some  cheap  furnace 
may  be  invented  by  which  the  Grape 
may  be  converted  into  a  cleaner  and 
brighter-looking  raisin.  We  are  learn- 
ing every  year  new  means  of  utilizing 
our  semi-tropical  products,  and  we  are 
vain  enough  of  our  remarkable  climate 
and  its  various  productions  to  believe 
that  in  a  few  years  we  will  not  only 
drive  out  the  imported  raisins,  but  sup- 
ply our  brethren  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  Sooner  or  lat- 
er we  will  read  of  the  shipment  to  New 
York  and  Boston  of  car-loads  of  Cali- 
fornia raisins.  — Marysville  Appeal. 


Amebic  an  Apples  in  England. — The 
London  Garden  speaks  as  follows  in  re- 
gard to  the  importation  of  our  national 
fruit:  "American  Apples  of  the  £>ast 
season's  growth  are  now  selling  at  mod- 
erate rates  in  provincial  towns,  both  in 
England  and  Ireland.  The  high-color- 
ed and  well-flavored  Baldwin  is  the 
commonest  kind  as  yet.  As  usual  they 
come  in  barrels,  without  any  kind  of 
packing  material,  and  are,  as  a  rule, 
in  excellent  condition.  That  Apples 
should  be  sent  several  thousand  miles, 
and  then  be  sold  as  cheaply  as  home- 
grown fruit,  is  a  noteworthy  fact.  At 
this  rate  of  progress  fruitless  and  cold 
regions  will  soon  be  supplied  with  the 
finest  fruits  at  a  cost  that  places  them 
within  the  reach  of  all  classes." 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


29 


(StWariat  gartfctta. 


OAK  KNOLL,   NEAR  NAPA. 

THE  COUNTRY  RESIDENCE  OF  E.  B.  WOOD- 
WARD, ESQ. 

We  present  our  readers,  this  month, 
with  a  splendid  photograjm,  from  a  fine 
painting  of  Jos.  Lee's,  of  the  princely 
mansion  and  grounds  of  R.  B.  "Wood- 
ward, the  energetic  and  enterprising 
proprietor  of  the  famous  and  most  pop- 
ular "Woodward's  Gardens,"  the  great 
park  of  the  Pacific.  We  will  give  a 
description  of  this  lovely  and  exten- 
sive estate,  situated  in  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  valleys  in  the  world,  in  the 
words  of  E.  J.  Hooper  (in  an  article 
sent  to  an  Eastern  paper),  who  visited 
it  last  summer.     He  says  : 

' '  We  entered  this  fine  property  through 
a  gate  by  the  side  of  the  California  Pa- 
cific Railroad.  We  walked  to  the  no- 
ble mansion  of  the  owner  over  a  good 
carriage  road  or  avenue,  lined  and  sha- 
ded on  either  side  by  grand  native  ev- 
ergreen Oaks,  Acacias  or  Locusts,  Ai- 
lanthuses  or  "Trees  of  Heaven,"  and 
other  fine  trees  and  shrubs.  It  took  more 
than  a  mile's  walking  to  reach  the  house. 
We  saw  some  large  grain-fields,  and 
pastures  for  horses,  cattle  and  sheep; 
there  being  on  the  ranch,  together  with 
the  fruit  and  ornamental  grounds,  much 
land  for  raising  these  animals.  When 
we  apx^roached  this  splendid  country- 
seat,  extensive  orchards  of  Apple,  Pear, 
Peach,  Apricot,  Nectarine,  Plum,  Fig, 
Almond,  and  other  fruit-trees,  present- 
ed themselves  continually  to  our  admir- 
ing gaze,  with  large  vineyards  of  foreign 
and  native  Grapes,  and  patches  of  Straw- 
berries, Raspberries,  Blackberries,  Cur- 
rants, and  Gooseberries: 

' '  Before  the  new  mansion,  lately  erect- 
ed near  the  site  of  the  old  house  of  the 
last  owner  of  the  property,  was  a  large 


and  well-kept  lawn,  made  verdant  by 
the  dry  season  water  -  sprinkling  ap- 
paratus, movable  at  will.  The  finest 
and  rarest  evergreens,  shrubs,  and  par- 
terres of  Roses  and  the  richest  flowers, 
adorn  this  delightful  grass-plat,  with, 
here  and  there,  magnificent  specimens 
of  old,  wide-spreading,  gnarled,  native 
evergreen  Oaks  and  two  other  kinds 
of  Oaks,  and  many  indigenous  shrubs 
and  wild- flowers. 

"A  wide  and  pellucid  trout-stream 
meanders  through  the  premises  of  this 
valuable  and  choice  property  of  2,000 
acres  of  cleared  land  and  woods.  The 
proprietor's  young  son  drove  us  through 
and  around  it,  and  if  we  had  gone  over 
all  the  roads  we  should  have  traveled 
twelve  miles. 

"Domesticated  wild  geese  and  other 
water -fowl  were  seen  swimming  and 
gamboling  in  a  small  and  highly  pict- 
uresque pond.  We  drove  under  the 
early  Pear,  Apple,  Plum,  and  Apricot 
trees  to  feast  on  their  already  ripe  and 
luscious  fruits,  although  it  was  but  the 
commencement  of  summer.  The  Apri- 
cots were  as  large  as  medium -sized 
Peaches,  and  mostly  of  the  Moorpark 
and  Royal  kinds.  The  Columbia  Plums 
were  also  gigantic,  though  size  is  com- 
mon to  all  the  fruit  and  vegetable  pro- 
ductions of  this  favored  valley,  and  in- 
deed the  State  in  general.  The  night- 
fogs  from  the  ocean  and  bay  are  very 
beneficial  to  this  portion  of  the  coast, 
consequently  all  vegetation  is  kept  green 
and  healthy. 

"The  mansion  itself  is  very  elegant, 
light  in  architecture,  liberal  in  its  di- 
mensions, highly  convenient,  and  fur- 
nished with  every  modern  improve- 
ment, and  many  exquisite  works  of  art." 


Five  ears  of  pop-corn  from  one  stalk 
contained  3,454  grains!  So  says  the 
American  Agriculturist. 


30 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


[PLANTS  WOETHY  OF    CULTURE. 

"We  presented  to  our  readers  in  the 
December  Horticulturist  illustrations  of 
a  few  flowers  which  might  be  very  ad- 
vantageously cultivated  in  our  gardens, 
and  which  will  thrive  well  under  very 
ordinary  treatment. 

The  Carnation  is  one  of  those  old- 
fashioned  and  popular  flowers  which  is 
rarely  met  with  in  our  gardens.  The 
Carnation  differs  from  the  Pink  proper 
in  having  broad  stripes  running  from  the 
edge  to  the  base  of  each  petal.  Carna- 
tions may  be  raised  from  seed,  but  we 
can  not  always  rely  on  obtaining  good 
varieties  in  this  way.  Good  varieties 
must  be  propagated  by  layerings  or 
cuttings. 

Crepis  is  an  annual,  with  purple, 
white,  or  yellow  flowers,  which  has  not 
yet  found  its  way  into  our  gardens.  It 
is  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  border. 

Daturas,  both  single  and  double,  are 
showy  flowering  plants  for  the  garden; 
some  herbaceous,  and  others  shrubby 
or  tree- like;  the  latter  are  most  general- 
ly known  as  the  Brugmansia.  The 
flowers  are  very  fragrant,  and  mostly 
white. 

Thunbergia  is  a  very  graceful  and 
neat  climber  for  the  garden,  as  well  as 
for  the  greenhouse.  It  is  considered 
an  annual,  but  in  California  we  have 
frequently  seen  plants  do  well  for  sever- 
al years.  It  is  also  a  very  pretty  basket- 
plant.  The  flowers  are  either  white, 
yellow,  or  buff,  with  very  dark  eye. 


WOODWAED'S  GAEDENS. 
IMPROVEMENTS,    ADDITIONS,    AQUARIUM,  ETC. 

The  liberal  and  public-spirited  pro- 
prietor of  these  favorite  and  most  pop- 
ular grounds  is  evidently  unceasing  in 
his  outlays  to  institute,  improve,  and 
add  everything  that  can  conduce  to  the 


interest,  amusement,  taste,  and  instruc- 
tion of  the  public.  The  cabinets  of  Nat- 
ural History,  of  beasts,  birds,  fishes,  rep- 
tiles, etc.,  have  within  the  last  year 
been  re-arranged  and  classified,  the  ca- 
ses being  enlarged,  and  more  sashes  and 
glass  made,  in  order  to  show  more 
light  upon  the  specimens,  so  that  they 
may  be  inspected  with  plenty  of  it  on 
all  sides.  It  is,  I  believe,  contemplated 
that  the  second- story  shall  be  taken 
down,  and  the  first-story  much  enlar- 
ged. 

The  aviary  has  been  removed  to  the 
grand  building  on  the  hill,  if  its  inmates 
can  be  kept  comfortably  warm  there 
(not  receiving  so  much  sun  as  in  its  for- 
mer locality).  It  is  a  good  situation, 
and  is  much  more  ornamental  than  the 
old  building.  This  latter  conservatory- 
like apartment  is  now  devoted  to  the 
splendid  collection  of  Ferns,  with  which 
it  is  filled,  it  having  received  accessions 
brought  by  Mr.  Schuman  from  the 
Sandwich  Islands.  And  this  [leads  us 
to  say  that  there  is  a  fine  and  extensive 
collection  of  Palms,  Ferns,  and  other 
plants,  also  brought  by  the  same  gen- 
tleman from  those  islands,  ready  for 
placing  in  a  large  and  new  conservatory 
to  be  built  adjoining  the  present  cabinet 
building,  and  where  the  swings  and 
gymnastic  apparatus  now  are;  these  last 
to  be  placed  in  some  other  suitable  por- 
tion of  the  Gardens. 

It  is  likewise  designed  by  the  ener- 
getic and  enterprising  owner  of  these 
most  attractive  premises,  that  that  part 
of  the  grounds  which  lies  back  of  the 
entrance  and  office,  and  where  the  old 
road  is,  shall  be  appropriated  to  the 
planting  of  a  varied  and  large  collec- 
tion of  all  the  semi-tropical  and  some 
of  the  tropical  plants  of  the  globe. 

During  our  last  visit  to  this  grand 
"Central  Park  of  the  Pacific,"  we  ob- 
served in  the  aquarium,  specimens  of 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


31 


lakes  Tahoe  and  Ontario  trout.  The 
Tahoe  trout  are  most  distinctly  and 
beautifully  speckled  -with  black  spots 
nearly  all  over  the  body,  the  ground 
of  which  is  a  very  light  yellow,  and  the 
form  rather  more  elongated  than  the 
eastern  brook  trout.  The  Ontario 
trout  is  very  singularly  marked  with 
whitish  blotches  intermixed  with  red 
and  golden  specks,  the  general  color 
being  rather  a  dark  yellow. 

The  California  brook  trout,  with  a 
few  eastern,  have  now  reached  a  large 
size,  si  me  of  them  weighing  nearly  five 
pounds.  "What  sport  they  would  yield 
to  the  angler  or  fly-fisher  could  they 
be  hooked  in  their  native  element,  in 
their  natural  state ! 

There  is  in  one  of  the  tanks  a  large 
"cod"  or  the  "green-fish,"  properly  Op- 
plomona  pantherina,  which  is  so  tame  as 
to  come  to  the  top  of  the  water  and  eat 
pieces  of  beef  from  the  hand,  but  will 
snap  at  the  bare  hand,  and,  as  it  has 
long,  sharp  teeth,  the  feeder  has  to  be 
careful  in  presenting  it  near  his  codship 
without  food. 

All  the  tanks  are  continually  replen- 
ished when  deaths  occur,  or  added  to 
wher^ anything  in  ichthyology  is  discov- 
ered new,  curious,  and  interesting. 


A  Fine  Specimen  of  the  Eucalyptus. 
— A  great  deal  has  been  published  in 
reference  to  the  rapid  and  luxuriant 
growth  of  the  Eucalyptus  globulus,  or 
Blue  Gum-tree,  in  various  portions  of 
the  State.  In  the  garden  of  Richmond 
Davis, corner  of  G  and  Fifteenth  streets, 
is  a  tree  of  this  order,  planted  in  1863, 
which  measures  six  feet  four  inches  in 
circumference  at  the  trunk,  and  is  about 
sixty  feet  in  height,  its  branches  cover- 
ing a  diameter  of  about  forty  feet.  It 
has  been  trimmed,  and  a  third  of  it  cut 
away,  but  it  is  yet  a  noble  tree. — Sacra- 
mento Union.       , 


AGEICULTUEAL  LECTUEES. 

Professor  C.  E.  Bessey,  M.  S.,  of  the 
Iowa  Agricultural  College,  Ame3,  Iowa, 
commenced  Monday,  Jan.  18th,  the 
courses  of  lectures  before  the  College 
of  Agriculture,  which  he  has  been  in- 
vited by  the  Regents  of  the  University 
of  California  to  deliver  at  Berkeley. 

1.  The  first  course  will  be  on  Eco- 
nomic Botany,  or  the  Vegetable  Prod- 
ucts used  by  Man;  including  a  discus- 
sion of  the  Cereals,  Forage  Plants,  Tex- 
tile Plants,  Medicinal  Plants,  Timbers, 
etc. 

2.  The  second  course  will  be  on  the 
Improvement  of  Varieties  in  Plants  and 
Animals;  including  a  discussion  of  the 
principles  and  methods  which  control 
such  improvements. 

Students  in  Agriculture  are  required 
to  attend  these  lectures;  the  Resident 
Graduates  and  the  Senior  Class  are  ad- 
vised to  do  so;  the  members  of  the  Uni- 
versity generally,  and  other  persons  in- 
terested in  Horticulture  and  Agricult- 
ure, are  invited  to  attend. 

The  lectures  will  be  given  in  the  Se- 
nior Lecture  Room,  North  Hall  (Room 
17),  on  Mondays,  Tuesdays,  Wednes- 
days, and  Thursdays,  at  three  o'clock. 

On  Fridays,  in  the  Assembly,  at  a 
quarter  past  two  o'clock,  Professor  Bes- 
sey will  deliver  four  public  lectures,  be- 
ginning Jan.  22d,  1875. 


Me.  J.  J.  H.  Gregory,  of  Marblehead, 
Mass.  has  his  annual  advertisement  in 
our  columns.  He  was  the  original  in- 
troducer of  some  of  the  best  vegetables 
now  found  on  every  table.  He  comes 
this  year  with  a  new  Squash,  and  a 
number  of  tempting  specialties,  some 
of  which  are  finely  illustrated  from  en- 
gravings taken  from  photographs.  The 
fact  that  so  many  of  his  varieties  of 
seed  are  of  his  own  growing,  is  a  gold- 
en fact  for  farmers  and  gardeners. 


32 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


VICE'S   CHEOMO  FOE  1875. 

This  pretty  production  has  been  re- 
ceived at  our  office.  It  is  lettered  "H" 
in  the  series  of  chromos  issued  by  Mr. 
Vick,  and  is  called  "  "Winter  In-doors 
and  Out : "  representing  a  stand  covered 
with  winter  flowers,  house-plants,  etc., 
while  from  the  window  are  seen  the  leaf- 
less trees,  the  snow -covered  hill -side, 
and  other  evidences  of  winter.  It  is  a 
charming  picture.  Send  75  cts.  to  Jas. 
Vick,  Rochester,  N.  T. ,  and  it  will  be 
sent  to  your  address  post-paid. 


NEW  AND   EAEE  PLANTS. 

New  Roses. — Messrs.  Miller  &  Hayes 
send  us  specimens  of  a  large  number  of 
new  Eoses,  blooming  on  the  first  of  Oc- 
tober. Among  those  particularly  fine  we 
note :  Hybrid  perpetuals — Mad.  Gruillot 
de  Mont  Favel,  a  beautiful  deep  blush, 
and  of  full-cupped  petals,  to  whom  we 
take  at  first  sight  in  spite  of  her  hor- 
rid name ;  Elizabeth  Yigneron,  another 
large  full-petaled  variety,  of  a  deep  pur- 
ple rose;  Paul  Neron,  a  very  large 
light  rose;  Mad.  de  Eidder,  crimson 
rose.  There  are  some  beautiful  Teas 
among  them,  especially  Comptesse  de 
Nadellac,  a  bronzy  salmon;  Montplaisir, 
a  rosy  cream,  and  which  we  have  before 
noticed  favorably  in  our  notices  of  exhi- 
bitions; La  Jonquille,  one  of  the  deep- 
est of  yellows,  almost  orange,  and  La 
Nankin,  a  white  with  a  nankin  base.  — 
Tlie  Gardener's  Monthly. 

Dahlia  eoeeinea.— Mr.  Salter  exhib- 
ited in  London  recently  cut-flowers  of 
Dahlia  coccinea,  an  old  but  extremely 
handsome  species  of  unwonted  brillian- 
cy of  color — in  fact,  of  a  vivid  fiery  scar- 
let hue.  The  single  flower  looked  like 
a  rich-colored  form  of  Anemone  japoni- 
ca.   Like  the  ordinary  Dahlia,  it  is  a  ten- 


der perennial,  propagated  in  the  same 
way,  growing  three  feet  and  a  half  to 
four  feet  high,  and  blooming  at  this 
season  of  the  year.  After  all  that  our 
cultivators  have  done  in  the  way  of  im- 
proving the  equality  of  the  double  Dah- 
lia of  our  day,  they  have  never  been 
able  to  get  into  it  the  splendor  of  hue 
belonging  to  this  brilliantly  colored 
species.  It  is  a  plant  that  richly  de- 
serves to  come  into  cultivation  again, 
and  many  of  our  horticulturists  were 
making  inquiries  for  it. — TJie  Garden- 
er's Monthly. 

A  New  Colorado  Conifera.  —  Dr. 

Englemann  has  been  exploring  in  Col- 
orado this  summer,  and  has  found 
Abies  concolor  in  Glen  Eyrie,  at  the  foot 
of  Pike's  Peak.  It  is  a  sad  commen- 
tary on  the  use  of  eyes  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  such  usually  wide-awake 
fellows  as  Meehan,  Hoopes,  Parry,  Por- 
ter, and  other  collectors  have  been 
through  this  glen  without  seeing  it !  — 
TJie  Gardener's  Monthly. 

New  Shrubby  Spirea.  — Mr.  Thom- 
as Hogg,  writing  from  Japan,  states 
that  he  has  found  there  a  new  shrubby 
Spirea,  with  long  racemes  of  white,  fra- 
grant flowers;  and  which  in  his  opin- 
ion, will  be  a  decided  acquisition  to  our 
lists  of  hardy  shrubs.  He  had  thus  far 
found  but  one  plant,  though  he  enter- 
tained the  hoj>e  of  finding  others,  or  of 
obtaining  seed.  — American  Garden. 

A  New  White  Pansy  —  "White 
Treasure." — Among  all  the  varied  col- 
ors presented  by  Pansies  it  is  notf  strange 
that  there  should  be  white  ones;  indeed 
there  are  several  old  named  sorts  of  this 
color,  or  rather  lack  of  color;  but  there 
are  not  so  many  that  a  new  and  meri- 
torious white  variety  is  not  welcome. 
"White  Treasure"  originated  with  Mr. 
J.  W.  Morris,  a  florist  at  Utica,  N.  T., 
who  sometime  ago  sent  us  specimens  of 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


33 


the  flowers,  and  more  recently  we  have 
been  able  to  inspect  entire  plants.  The 
strong  stocky  habit  of  the  plant  is  its 
most  striking  characteristic;  it  is  very 
short- jointed  and  large  stemmed  with- 
out the  straggling  weakness  that  often 
makes  these  plants  unsightly;  the  fo- 
liage is  of  good  substance  and  dense, 
and  stands  the  sun  well;  a  photograph 
taken  of  the  bed  in  August  shows  a  vig- 
or of  growth  quite  unusual  with  Pan- 
sies  in  hot  months.  The  flowers  are 
well  up  above  the  leaves,  upon  strong 
stems,  and  of  good  shape  and  texture, 
perfectly  white  except  a  small  orange- 
colored  eye.  The  fringe  at  the  base  of 
the  side  petals  is  pure  white,  and  by  its 
different  texture  from  the  petals  them- 
selves, increases  the  beauty  of  the  flow- 
ers. The  flowers  were  quite  an  inch 
and  three -fourths  across.  This  variety 
comes  true  from  seed,  which  the  plant 
produces  freely.  Almost  every  grower 
of  flowers  is  fond  of  Pansies.,  and  will 
regard  a  white  one  with  favor,  and  it 
will  no  doubt  be  a  valuable  Pansy  for 
forcing. — American  Agriculturist. 


NEW"  AND  RARE  FRUITS. 


New  Western  Cherries. — The  far 
"West  is  entering  the  lists  with  the  East 
as  a  raiser  of  seedling  fruits.  The  fol- 
lowing are  said  to  be  Oregon  seedlings 
of  high  excellence : 

Willamette. — A  seedling  from  the 
Royal  Ann;  very  large,  light  red  color, 
sweet,  late;  a  good  market  variety. 

Clackamas. — An  extra  fine  large 
black  Cherry,  ripens  just  before  the 
Black  Tartarian,  which  it  much  resem- 
bles; rich,  fine  flavor. 

Major  Francis. — A  new  Cherry  of  Mr. 
Walings'  raising;  very  large,  black, 
fine  rich  flavor,  ripens  just  before  the 
Black  Tartarian;  one  of  the  best  Cher- 

Vol.  V.— 5. 


ries  in  their  time;  tree  vigorous  and 
productive.  Took  the  first  premium 
two  years  ago  at  an  Oregon  exhibition 
in  succession  over  all  other  Cherries. — 
Gardener's  Monthly. 

Brier's  Sweet  Crab.— Mr.  A.  G.  Tut- 
tie,  Baraboo,  Wis.,  writes:  "We  send 
by  mail,  to-day,  a  package  of  fruit  of  a 
new  Crab,  which  is  causing  quite  a  sen- 
sation West.  It  is  sweet,  and  perfectly 
devoid  of  the  astringency ,  or  bitter  taste, 
peculiar  to  the  Crab  family.  Is  called 
'Brier's  Sweet  Crab. '  Please  test  quali- 
ty and  size,  color,  etc." 

[  This  shows  a  remarkable  improve- 
ment in  Crabs.  It  was  quite  as  good  to 
eat  as  any  ordinary  Apple.  Indeed  one 
would  not  know  by  the  flavor  alone, 
that  he  was  eating  a  Crab.  — Ed.  G.  M.] 
— Gardener's  Monthly. 

New  Melon. — A  new  Melon  has 
been  introduced  into  England,  the 
seeds  of  which  were  brought  from  Afri- 
ca by  Sir  Samuel  Baker.  It  is  said  to 
be  wholly  distinct  from  every  variety 
yet  known  in  Europe  or  in  this  country. 
In  size  it  resembles  a  large  Gourd,  but 
has  a  true  Melon  skin  of  a  deep  golden 
color,  beautifully  netted;  with  a  flavor 
of  the  finest  possible  quality. — Ameri- 
can Garden. 


Though  the  Orange-tree  grows  true 
to  the  seed,  yet,  like  all  other  fruit,  it  is 
improved  by  grafting.  The  Konah  Or- 
ange, a  large  and  well-flavored  variety, 
has  been  introduced  here  this  year,  and 
budding  the  Konah  into  the  ordinary 
Orange  has  become  quite  the  fashion 
hereabouts.  It  is  said  that  the  China 
Lemon  root  budded  with  this  variety 
will  bear  four  years  from  the  graft,  thus 
saving  four  years  time,  as  the  ordinary 
Los  Angeles  Orange  only  begins  to 
bear  at  eight  years  from  the  seed. 


34  , 


THE    CALLEOBNIA    HOETICULTUKIST. 


FKUIT  CULTIVATION,  AND  REPORT  ON 

THE  FRUIT  AND  VEGETABLE 

MARKET. 

BY  E.    J.    HOOPEB. 

Upon  no  subject  connected  with  Hor- 
ticulture has  more  been  written  than 
upon  the  cultivation  of  fruit  -  trees,  a 
fact  to  which  the  shelves  of  the  Bay- 
District  Horticultural  Society,  in  com- 
mon with  those  of  most  other  libraries, 
bear  ample  testimony.  But,  although 
cheerfully  granting  to  the  authors  on 
Pomology  their  full  meed  of  praise  for 
the  valuable  materials  laid  open  in 
their  writings,  from  which  the  writer  of 
this  article  has  derived  both  pleasure 
and  instruction,  he  can  not  help  la- 
menting that  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant subjects  in  this  interest  has  been 
hitherto  much  neglected  on  this  coast 
among  all  the  agricultural  and  horti- 
cultural societies  as  well  as  among  the 
producers  and  salesmen,  namely — the 
correct  nomenclature  of  the  science,  so 
that  purchasers  of  fruit  should  become 
acquainted  with  their  correct  names,  and 
thereby  become  properly  cognizant  of 
their  merits  as  well  as  their  demerits, 
and  not  to  be  directed  so  much  by  the 
beautiful  complexion,  form,  and  size  of 
the  various  fruits,  as  by  their  flavor  and 
excellence. 

Horticultural  societies  should  be  care- 
ful and  diligent  in  forming  for  their  own 
benefit  and  that  of  the  public,  select 
lists  of  the  various  kinds  of  fruits,  with 
their  synonyms  attached  thereto.  They 
should  contain  only  such  sorts  as  are 
really  worth  cultivation.  None  should 
be  admitted  but  varieties  of  the  highest 
character,  and  such  as  will  repay  the 
cultivator  for  his  trouble  and  expense. 
The  selections  should  be  made  for  our 
latitudes,  and  planters  ean  then  make 
the  necessary  allowance,  if  they  live  in 
a  higher  or  lower  latitude  in  our  State. 


Mr.  Kobert  Thompson,  of  the  Horticult- 
ural Society  of  London,  has  done  much 
in  the  arrangement  of  the  nomenclat- 
ure of  fruits  there,  and  Dr.  John  A. 
Warder  has  done  as  much,  if  not  more, 
for  the  United  States,  especially  in  his 
admirable  large  work  on  "Apples." 
Knight  and  Lindley  in  England,  and 
Wilder,  Barry,  Thomas,  Elliott,  and 
others  in  America,  have  treated  the  sub- 
ject physiologically,  and  to  all  these 
every  horticulturist  is  deeply  indebted. 
Pomology  as  an  inductive  science  can 
only  be  said  to  have  originated  in  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century  in 
Engiand,  and  only  the  last  fifty  years 
in  the  United  States.  Much  yet  re- 
mains, however,  to  be  determined  in 
regard  to  names,  to  enable  the  fruitist 
to  select  the  best  sorts  from  the  many 
inferior  ones  sometimes  in  cultivation 
in  many  parts  of  the  country.  With 
respect  to  Peaches  in  particular,  there 
are  not  half  so  many  distinct  sorts  as 
there  are  names  in  use;  and  of  that  half, 
most  likely,  two-thirds  are  not  worth 
cultivating.  Of  most  of  the  sorts  orig- 
inated from  seed,  sufficient  time  may 
not  have  elapsed  to  judge  of  their  mer- 
its; they  may  be  described  as  good; 
but  unquestionably  many  of  them  are 
worth  little  in  comparison  with  the  best 
old  sorts.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
Cherries,  and  perhaps,  also,  Pears  and 
Apples. 

In  forming  a  collection  of  fruits,  it  will 
always  be  found  more  satisfactory  not 
to  attempt  too^'great  a  number  of  sorts, 
and  to  endeavor  to  fix  upon  those  that 
are  already  well  known,  and  also  such 
as  are  found  to  suit  the  latitude  and 
circumstances  of  the  situation.  There 
is  unfortunately  a  mania  with  some  per- 
sons for  collecting  endless  varieties  of 
fruits,  and  in  a  few  cases  I  have  known 
the  oldest  and  best  sorts  have  been 
cast  out  of  gardens,  or  cut  down  and 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


35 


grafted  with  others  far  inferior  to  them 
in  every  respect.  Many  French  and 
English  fruits  at  one  time  were  intro- 
duced, which,  perhaps,  though  excel- 
lent in  their  native  climate,  were  quite 
unfit  for  many  parts  of  America.  The 
proprietor  consequently  has  sustained 
a  serious  loss,  although  in  this  climate, 
favorable  in  general,  to  all  vegetation, 
many  fruits  have  been  found  happily 
congenial  to  it.  As  to  such  fruits  as 
Strawberries,  Raspberries,  Gooseber- 
ries, etc.,  which  bear  early,  the  disap- 
pointment is  of  little  consequence, 
because  a  year  or  two  at  most  will  recti- 
fy the  mistake;  but  in  the  case  of 
Apples,  Pears,  Cherries,  Plums,  etc., 
which  require  some  years,  even  in 
California,  to  bring  them  into  a  prof- 
itable bearing  state,  the  disappoint- 
ment becomes  very  serious.  It  were 
better  to  be  contented  with  a  few  good 
kinds,  that  produce  well  in  most  sea- 
sons here,  than  to  plant  many  sorts  for 
the  sake  of  variety.  It  is  no  doubt  of 
very  great  importance  to  select  and 
adapt  the  kinds  to  the  climate,  soil,  and 
aspect;  and  in  some  situations  a  greater 
variety  may  be  planted  with  propriety 
than  in  others.  This  matter  must  be 
determined  by  existing  circumstances, 
by  the  fancy  of  the  proprietors,  and  by 
the  direction  of  a  first-rate  gardener  and 
pomologist,  or  the  advice  of  the  most 
experienced  cultivators. 

Some  attention  should  be  also  paid 
to  selecting  sorts  suitable  to  their  des- 
tined soils,  as  some  that  would  succeed 
well  in  a  strong  clay  or  adobe  soil, 
would  languish  in  a  poor,  light,  sandy 
one; -but  as  to  this  State,  fruits  in  gen- 
eral succeed  in  all  parts  of  it.  There 
are  situations,  however,  where  the  Ap- 
ple and  Pear  thrive  better  than  the 
Cherry  and  Plum. 

The  retail  markets  are  now  at  their 
best  this  season  of  the  year.    At  the 


holidays  the  stalls  were,  of  course,  set 
out  with  as  good  a  display  of  fruits  and 
vegetables  as  the  season  would  permit. 
Notwithstanding  that  it  was  the  off 
season  for  farm  and  garden  products, 
there  might  have  been  a  better  display 
than  the  one  made;  under  more  favora- 
ble conditions  of  weather,  no  doubt 
there  would  have  been  a  marked  im- 
provement noticeable  in  the  quality  of 
many  of  the  vegetables  offered,  and 
there  would  have  been  some  descrip- 
tions occupying  a  conspicuous  position 
on  the  stall  that  did  not  then  appear. 
But  the  long,  and  for  this  State,  extra- 
ordinary cold  weather  (the  thermometer 
being  in  some  places  16  degrees  below 
the  freezing  point),  and  frosts  have  re- 
tarded the  growth  of  early  vegetables, 
and  materially  affected  the  appearance 
of  late  descriptions.  There  was  no  de- 
scription of  vegetables  then  in  season 
wherein  this  was  more  apparent  than  in 
the  case  of  Mushrooms.  Up  to  the 
middle  of  December,  the  cold  weather 
had  not  seriously  injured  the  crops. 
The  supply  was  undiminished,  and  the 
size  and  quality  were  up  to  the  stand- 
ard; but  its  continuance  to  the  end  of 
December  has  interrupted  their  growth, 
and  while  the  supply  was  much  less, 
the  quality  was  correspondingly  inferi- 
or. The  price  had  consequently  ad- 
vanced from  10c.  to  15c.  @  25c.  per  lb. 
Asparagus  was  also  dearer,  being  quot- 
ed at  50c.  to  75c.  per  lb.  Christmas 
managed  to  draw  a  supply  of  Artichokes, 
from  secluded  corners,  although  this, 
vegetable  has  been  nominally  out  of 
season  several  weeks,  and  a  fancy  price 
asked  and  paid  for  it  as  a  luxury,  retail- 
ing at  $1  to  $1  25  per  dozen.  Jerusa- 
lem Artichokes  were  unchanged,  sell- 
ing at  8c.  per  lb.  Cauliflowers  now  sell 
at  15c.  to  25c.  each,  an  unusually  high 
price.  The  reason  is  obvious;  it  was 
almost  the  only  presentable  vegetable 


36 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


within  the  reach  of  the  masses,  and  the 
demand  for  it  was  enormous.  Green 
Peas  were  classed  among  the  luxuries, 
but  their  exceedingly  poor  condition 
did  not  encourage  much  demand. 
Common  Potatoes  were  getting  scarce, 
and  threatened  to  become  very  dear. 
Other  vegetables  are  unchanged. 

The  best  Oranges  in  the  market  were 
from  Solano  County.  They  were  riper, 
larger,  and  cleaner  than  the  Los  Ange- 
les Orange,  and  command  a  much  bet- 
ter price,  selling  at  10c.  each.  The 
Australian  steamer  Mikado  brought  a 
small  consignment  of  a  delayed  picking 
of  the  last  crop  of  Australian  Oranges. 
The  lot  was  received  in  excellent  con- 
dition; and  owing  to  the  unusual  size 
of  the  Oranges  embraced  therein,  and 
the  fact  that  they  were  of  a  description 
foreign  to  this  coast,  the  entire  consign- 
ment was  sold  for  fancy  figures,. none  of 
it  finding  its  way  into  the  hands  of  re- 
tailers. Los  Angeles  Oranges  betray  a 
marked  increase  in  the  ravages  of  the 
scale-bug.  Fruit  from  groves  hitherto 
exempted  from  the  undesirable  presence 
of  this  obnoxious  insect  came  to  hand 
extensively  stained  with  its  secretion. 
Unless  growers  make  a  determined  ef- 
fort to  annihilate  this  parasite,  it  will 
very  soon  assume  such  proportions  as 
to  materially  prejudice  their  interests; 
Mexico,  thus  early,  this  season,  send- 
ing in  its  Orange  crop,  and  Mexican 
Oranges  have  not  a  stain  on  their  gold- 
en skins.  Lady's  Apples  were  in 
abundant  supply  at  the  last  week's 
prices.  Prunes  and  Raisins  (California 
dried)  were  unchanged.  Grapes  were 
nearly  out.  Black  Morocco  retailed  at 
15c.  to  25c.  per  lb.;  Flame  Tokay,  25c; 
Muscats,  15c.  Gilded  Nuts  for  Christ- 
mas-trees, 25c.  per  dozen. 

For  the  first  time  in  three  years  Peas 
were  out  of  market  about  the  8th  of 
this  month  (January).     The  unprece- 


dented period  of  cold  weather,  north 
winds,  and  frosty  nights  finally  put  an 
end  to  the  supply  of  Green  Peas,  String 
Beans,  and  Tomatoes,  and  materially 
curtailed  the  receipts  of  Mushrooms, 
which  have  been  so  abundant  this  fall 
and  winter.  Rhubarb  could  still  be 
had  in  small  quantities  up  to  about  the 
10th  of  January,  but  the  quality  was 
poor.  We  quote  Spinach  at  8c. ;  Let- 
tuce, 20c.  to  25c.  per  dozen;  Salsify,  8c. 
to  10c.  per  bunch;  Potatoes,  by  the 
sack  delivered,  $2.00  to  $2.50;  Onions, 
$1.50  to  $2.00  per  cental. 

The  market  has  been  well  supplied 
with  Oranges,  the  best  being  from  Mex- 
ico. The  California  fruit  is  still  rath- 
er too  green  to  be  very  salable.  Poor 
and  medium  sized  Apples  have  been 
and  yet  are  very  plentiful  and  cheap. 
Pears  have  been  and  remain  to  this  time 
scarce  and  dear,  owing  to  heavy  ship- 
ments to  the  East  early  in  the  season. 
The  continued  frosty  nights  have  cut  off 
the  supply  of  Strawberries  and  Grapes 
for  more  than  three  weeks.  About  the 
13th  of  this  month,  the  frosts  began  to 
cease  their  (for  this  coast)  great  severi- 
ty, and  rain  seems  near  at  hand,  the 
wind  being  in  the  south,  where  it  has 
not  been,  except  for  a  few  hours,  for 
over  a  month  past.  Eastern  Chestnuts 
are  retailing  at  35c.  per  lb. ;  Apples  by 
the  box  retail  at  $1.00  to  $2.00;  Pears, 
$2.00  to  $3.00,  delivered. 

Continued  cold  weather  has  kept  back 
the  new  crop  of  Green  Peas  later  than 
usual,  and  none  are  expected  for  sever- 
al weeks.  New  Potatoes  have  put  in  an 
appearance,  but  are  very  small,  and  do 
not  sell  readily.  Rhubarb  is  again -out 
of  market,  and  no  more  will  be  received 
until  the  weather  is  warmer.  Aspara- 
gus in  small  quantities  comes  forward 
regularly,  and  commands  high  prices. 
We  quote  Spinach  at  8c. ;  Lettuce,  20c. 
to  25c.  per  doz.;  Salsify,  8c.  to  10c.  per 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


37 


bunch;  Potatoes  by  the  sack,  deliver- 
ed, $2.00  to  $2.50;  Onions,  $1.50  to  $2.00 
per  cental. 

Oranges,  Lemons,  Limes,  and  Apples 
are  plentiful.  Pears  of  all  kinds  are 
scarce,  and  ripe  Easter  Beurres  are 
bringing  f ancy  figures.  Most  of  the  Or- 
anges in  market  are  from  Los  Angeles, 
but  none  of  them  are  sufficiently  ripe  to 
sell  readily.  Apples  by  the  box  retail 
at  $1.00  to  $2.00  delivered. 


^ttttflrat  <Bl«wfa00. 


The  Edible  Passion-elower.  —  Few 
greenhouse  or  conservatory  climbers 
are  more  beautiful  than  this  Passiflora, 
and  yet  one  meets  with  it  very  rarely  in 
modern  collections.  Planted  out  in  a 
border  of  rich  moist  earth  it  grows 
rapidly,  often  making  shoots  ten  and 
twelve  feet  long  in  a  single  season. 
When  in  vigorous  health  it  gracefully 
drapes  pillars,  arches,  or  rafters,  with  a 
profusion  of  glossy  foliage.  The  flow- 
ers, although  ornamental,  are  not  so 
showy  as  those  of  many  of  the  other 
species.  Under  good  culture  they  are 
succeeded  by  bright  purple  fruits,  each 
the  size  of  a  hen's  egg,  which  are  favor- 
ites with  many  on  account  of  their  fine 
sub-acid  flavor. 

Although  this  is,  undoubtedly,  the 
best  of  all  the  edible  Passion-flowers, 
P.  macrocarpus  and  P.  quadrangularis 
are  by  no  means  useless  additions  to 
the  dessert;  and  those  who  have  not 
acquired  a  taste  for  them  in  a  fresh 
state  rarely  fail  to  relish  them  when 
preserved.  Even  in  the  absence  of  fruit 
P.  edulis  well  deserves  cultivation,  as 
it  is  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  Passi- 
floras  in  habit,  P.  (racemosa)  princeps 
not  even  excepted.  Like  most  of  its 
congeners  it  is  readily  propagated  eith- 
er by  cuttings,  layers,  or  seeds;  and 
those  who  require  a  climber  of  a  deep 


tint,  for  the  ornamentation  of  a  conser- 
vatory or  corridor,  can  not  do  better 
than  avail  themselves  of  it.  —  London 
Garden. 

Roses  foe  Button-holes. — The  fol- 
lowing varieties  are  highly  recommend- 
ed by  an  English  florist  for  forcing  for 
button-hole  flowers.  This  has  become 
quite  a  trade  in  this  country,  hence 
this  list  may  prove  an  aid  to  some  of 
our  readers:  Abel  Grand,  Beauty  of 
Waltham,  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  Duke 
of  Wellington,  Fisher  Holmes,  General 
Jacqueminot,  Henri  Ledechaux,  Jules 
Margottin,  Louisa  Wood,  Madame  Vic- 
tor Verdier,  Virgindale,  Monsieur  No- 
man,  Princess  Mary  of  Cambridge, 
Vicomte  Vigier,  Victor  Verdier.  Bour- 
bon: Souvenir  de  la  Malmaison.  Tea: 
Abricota,  Allia  Rosea,  Catherine  Mur- 
net,  Devoniensis,  Goubault,  Isabella 
Sprunt,  La  Nantes,  Madame  Falcot, 
Charles  Mauvin,  Safronet. 


The  Beauty  of  Trees. — A  tree  un- 
doubtedly is  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful objects  in  nature.  Airy  and  deli- 
cate in  its  youth,  luxuriant  and  majes- 
tic in  its  prime,  venerable  and  pictur- 
esque in  its  old  age,  it  constitutes,  in  its 
various  forms,  sizes,  and  developments, 
the  greatest  charm  and  beauty  of  the 
earth  in  all  its  countries.  The  most 
varied  outline  of  surface,  the  finest 
combination  of  picturesque  materials, 
would  be  comparatively  tame  and  spir- 
itless without  the  inimitable  accompani- 
ment of  foliage.  Let  those  who  have 
passed  their  whole  time  in  a  richly 
wooded  country — whose  daily  visions 
are  deep,  leafy  glens,  forest-clad  hills, 
and  plains  luxuriously  shady — trans- 
port themselves  for  a  moment  to  the 
desert,  where  but  a  few  stunted  bushes 
raise  their  heads  above  the   earth,   or 


38 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


those  wild  steppes,  where  the  eye  wan- 
ders in  vain  for  some  "leafy  garniture" 
—  where  the  sun  strikes  down  with 
parching  heat,  or  the  wind  sweeps  oyer 
with  unbroken  fury — and  they  may, 
perhaps,  estimate  by  contrast  their 
beauty  and  value. 


Yellow-jackets. — Every  country  has 
its  plagues.  Ancient  Egypt  had  its  lo- 
custs; our  Western  territories  have  their 
grasshoppers.;  and  it  seems  to  be  re- 
served for  California,  or  at  least  this 
part  of  it,  to  have  its  plague  or  pest — 
the  yellow-jackets.  They  seem  to  be 
rapidly  increasing  in  numbers  year  by 
year,  and  their  ravages,  especially 
among  the  Grapes,  are  becoming  alarm- 
ingly destructive.  They  eat  tons  of  fruit 
on  the  vines,  and  in  some  instances 
make  nearly  a  clean  sweep  of  that  part 
of  the  crop  spread  out  to  be  dried  for 
raisins.  A  friend  suggests  that  about 
the  best  way  to  abate  the  nuisance, 
would  be  for  the  State  to  offer  a  pre- 
mium with  a  view  to  encouraging  the  de- 
struction of  their  nests.  The  nests  he 
thinks  could  be  found  quite  readily,  by 
watching  the  little  marauders  when  la- 
den with  their  pellets,  as  they  then  fly 
in  a  "bee  line"  straight  to  them.  This 
suggestion  looks  plausible,  but  to  be 
effective  the  plan  would  have  to  be  gen- 
erally adopted  and  perseveringly  carried 
out. — Folsom  Telegraph. 


The  Gakdens  oe  Mobocco.  —  The 
groves  of  Rose-trees  and  the  flower- 
farms  of  Morocco  are  said  by  a  recent 
traveler  to  exceed  in  extent  and  value 
those  of  Damascus,  or  even  those  of  the 
valley  of  Mexico.  The  general  climate 
of  the  country  is  very  favorable  to  this 
kind  of  culture.  Swept  alternately  by 
the  breezes  of  the  Atlantic  and  the 


Mediterranean,  and  tempered  by  the 
snows  of  the  Atlas  ranges,  the  degree 
of  heat  is  much  lower  in  Morocco  than 
in  Algeria,  while  the  soil  is  exceeding- 
ly fertile.  To  the  Date-palm,  and  to 
Orange  and  Lemon  trees,  the  climate 
appears  to  be  especially  suited,  the 
Dates  of  Tafilat  having  been  famous 
even  from  Roman  times.  The  Orange 
plantations  are  of  great  extent  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  country,  while  Olives 
and  Almonds  are  also  staples  exported 
in  large  quantities.  Seeing  that  this 
fertile  land,  lying  within  five  days' 
steam  of  London,  produces  so  much 
vegetable  wealth  under  the  most  bar- 
barous cultivation,  it  appears  extraor- 
dinary that  European  enterprise  does 
not,  in  such  a  climate,  seek  profitable 
employment  for  its  over-abundant  cap- 
ital, in  its  application  to  the  develop- 
ment of  such  vast  resources,  so  close  at 
hand,  instead  of  going  so  far  afield  as 
Australia  or  America. 


The  plan  adopted  by  most  of  the 
Riverside  people  is  this:  They  pur- 
chase twenty  acres,  build  a  home,  and 
commence  setting  out  trees.  On  their 
line  fronting  on  the  street  they  set  out 
a  hedge  of  Limes,  whose  bright-green 
varnished  foliage  produces  a  lovely  ef- 
fect. Then  some  twelve  feet  outside  of 
that  they  plant  Monterey  Cypresses, 
eight  feet  apart.  The  deep  sombre 
hue,  and  trim,  conical  shape  of  these 
trees  contrasts  finely  with  the  Lime 
hedge,  and  the  two  together  make  a 
boundary  line  to  the  farm  and  an  ave- 
nue for  the  street  which  it  would  be 
hard  to  excel  in  any  country.  In  place 
of  division  fences  some  set  the  Eucalyp- 
tus, with  its  leaden-green  foliage;  oth- 
ers the  softly  drooping  Pepper-tree, 
whose  delicate  fronds  glint  and  shim- 
mer in  the  sunlight  as  they  tremble  in 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


39 


the  passing  breeze.  Each,  all,  are  sim- 
•  ply  differing  forms  of  beauty,  and  being 
evergreens,  retain  that  beauty  "the 
changing  seasons  through." 


California  Dried  Fruits. — Up  to  with- 
in a  short  period  the  United  States  has 
been  dependent  entirely  upon  the  south 
of  Europe  for  its  supply  of  the  luxury 
of  dried  fruits,  such  as  Raisins,  Zante 
Currants,  Prunes,  Figs,  etc.  The  total 
amount  imported  by  the  United  States 
is  not  less,  in  round  figures,  than  $15,- 
000,000.  Several  years  ago  California 
started  on  a  large  scale  the  cultivation 
of  the  Grape,  and  it  was  successful. 
Succeeding  this  came  the  experiment  of 
drying  the  fruit  to  a  raisin.  Samples 
of  these  raisins  were  sent  to  Europe, 
and  shown  to  Mr.  Clemens,  the  great 
raisin  factor  of  Malaga,  who  remarked 
that  in  time  the  California  raisin  would 
supply  the  United  States  home  market 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  foreign  product. 
California  is  now  coming  to  the  front 
in  this  matter,  and  from  recent  experi- 
ments made  by  the  Alden  Evaporator 
it  has  become  evident  that  the  United 
States  is  soon  to  be  made  independent 
of  foreign  supplies  in  raisins,  Currants, 
Prunes,  etc.  There  is  another  article 
of  dried  fruit  that  bids  fair  to  become 
important  in  the  commerce  of  this  coun- 
try, and  that  is  dried  Peaches. — Bos- 
ton Traveller. 


Operations  in  Otto  of  Rose.  —  This 
world -renowned  perfume,  for  which 
such  fabulous  prices  are  paid,  even  in 
these  modern  times,  as  to  furnish 
grounds  for  belief  in  the  extent  of  the 
disbursements  of  Oriental  potentates 
for  similar  luxuries  in  times  long  ago, 
is  of  no  small  importance  to  the  peas- 
antry of  Turkey,  and  as  regards  prices 
especially,  when  there  is  a  falling  off 
in  the  crop  of  Roses.     Such  is  expect- 


ed to  be  the  case  this  season,  when  the 
whole  distillation,  it  is  thought,  will 
not  exceed  1,600  pounds,  where  last 
year  2,700  pounds  were  produced. 
There  has  of  late  been  some  activity 
in  the  market  here,  based  on  these  re- 
ports, and  after  $6,  gold,  per  ounce 
had  been  accepted,  the  prices  advanced 
to  $6.50  and  $6.75,  gold,  and  now  rule 
quite  firm,  owing  to  this  falling  off  in 
the  crop,  and  also,  it  is  stated,  to  an 
advance  both  in  Paris  and  London  of 
thirty  per  cent,  within  a  short  time. 
Nearly  600  ounces  have  been  purchased 
here  within  a  few  days,  and  the  tenden- 
cy of  the  market,  owing  to  the  influ- 
ence of  this,  and  the  advices  from  the 
other  side,  seems  to  be  toward  higher 
prices.  There  are  eight  provinces  in 
Turkey,  which  in  total  yield  3,600 
pounds  ordinarily,  the  largest  giving 
about  1,900  pounds;  but  sometimes  the 
aggregate  reaches  6,600  pounds,  as  it 
was  in  1866,  while  again  it  may  fall  off 
to  1,700  pounds,  as  was  the  case  in 
1872.  This  will  show  how  variable 
the  yield  is.  The  business  is  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  peasants  and  farmers, 
who  have  their  stills  and  condensation 
tubes  busily  at  work  during  the  season. 
The  cultivation  requires  the  greatest 
care,  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  Ro- 
ses are  required  to  produce  a  respecta- 
ble yield  of  oil.  The  crop  is  variable, 
but  we  are  told  that  it  requires  an  aver- 
age of  3,000  pounds  of  Roses  to  pro- 
duce one  pound  of  otto  of  Rose.  —  New 
York  Commercial  Bulletin. 


The  Best  Time  for  Pruning. — We 
have  heretofore  noticed,  in  common 
with  many  others,  that  Roses  pruned 
in  the  autumn  and  winter  are,  in  many 
instances,  almost  bare  of  buds,  whilst 
those  pruned  in  the  spring  have  a  pro- 
fusion of  blooms.  We  have  therefore 
always  advocated  spring  pruning  not 
only  for  Roses,  but  all  other  out-door 
shrubs. — American  Garden. 


40 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Eain-fall  in  San  Francisco,  Oal.,  (1849  to  1874)  as  Eecorded  by  Thomas  Tennent. 

FROM  1849  TO  1861. 


1849. 

1850. 

1851. 

1853. 

185S. 

1854. 

1855. 

1856. 

1857. 

1858. 

1859. 

I860. 

1 

Si 

s 

3  , 

Si 
8 

1 
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1 

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3 

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s 
<5> 

i 

1 

1 

Ci 

1 

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o 

.02 

1 

c, 

1 

s 
e 
s 
<5> 

8 

C| 

2 

! 

s 

i 

c> 

2 
2 

s 
8 

1 

1 

1 
1 
15 
6 

9. 

8 

7 
13 

8 
11 

2 

73 

s 

s 
©> 

1 

.05 

.05 
.16 

.02 

.03 

.05 

7.28 

1.57 

186 

1.64 
1.60 
3.99 
3.14 
2.86 
.09 

.21 

.91 

.58 

.6.16 

186 

2.47 
3.72 
4.08 

.51 
1.00 

.08 

1 

.04 

.46 

.12 

2.28 

2.32 

185 

3.88 
8.04 
3.51 
3.12 
.02 
.08 

1 

4 

2 

12 

11 

1. 

10 
16 
11 
9 
1 
2 

79 

.01 

.15 

2.41 

.34 

.81 

185 

3.67 

4.77 
4.64 
5.00 
1.88 

i 

3 
9 
2 
3 

5. 

11 
10 
12 
10 
6 

67 

0.33    4 

1.03 

.21 

2.12 

7.10 

185 

.58 
.14 
6.68 
.26 
.32 

1 
2 

5 
14 

3. 

4 
4 
14 
3 
1 

.80 
5.31 
13.20 

185 

3.92 
1.42 
4.86 
5.37 
.38 

1 

12 
20 

1. 

11 
5 
6 
8 
7 

.67 
5.76 

185 

9.40 

.50 

1.60 

2.94 

.76 

.03 

21.66 

7 
15 

S. 

13 
4 
5 
6 

3 

1 

54 

.07 

.45 

2.79 

3.75 

185' 

2.45 
8.59 
1.62 

"!62 

.12 

2 
5 
9 
12 

7. 

7 
15 
6 

*3 

1 

61 

November  . . 
December. . . 

January 

February.. . . 

3.14 
8.66 
6.20 

1851 

8.34 

1.77 

4.63 

.46 

3 

8 
12 

0. 

15 
5 
7 
3 

(.92 
1.05 

185 

.72 

.54 

1.94 

1.23 

.67 

7 
4 

1. 

5 

4 
9 
8 
3 

.93    3 
3.01  11 
4.14    8 

1858. 

4.36    8 
1.83    8 
5.55    8 
1.55    4 
.34    3 
.05    1 

21.88  56 

2.74 

.69 

6.14 

185 

1.28 
6.32 
3.02 
.27 
1.55 

4 
5 

14 

9. 

4 

18 
11 
4 
4 

68 

12 
3 
21 

1. 

8 
8 
8 
4 
3 

?, 

53 

44 

48 

70 

33.10 

7.40 

18.44 

35.26 

23.87 

23.68 

19.81 

22.22 

22.27 

19.72 

70 

FROM  1861  TO  1874. 


1861. 

1863. 

1863. 

1864. 

1865. 

1866. 

1867. 

1868. 

1869. 

1870. 

1871. 

1873. 

1873. 

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September . . 

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2 

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3 

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4 

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1 

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3 

1.29 

2 

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2 

0.21 

1 

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November . . 

4.10 

12 

.15 

3 

2.55 

5 

6.68 

8 

4.19 

10 

3.35 

12 

3.41 

6 

1.18 

5 

1.19 

5 

.43 

4 

3.72 

9 

2.62 

3 

1.31 

6 

December. . . 

9.54 

16 

2.35 

9 

1.80 

8 

8.91 

18 

.58 

8 

15.16 

18 

10.69 

18 

4.34 

11 

4.31 

7 

3.38 

8 

16.74 

14 

7.25 

10 

10.12 

20 

1869. 

1863. 

1864. 

1865. 

1866. 

1867. 

1868. 

1869. 

1870. 

1871. 

1873. 

1873. 

1874. 

January 

24.36 

18 

3.63 

9 

1.83 

5 

5.14 

9 

10.88 

16 

5.16 

15 

9.50 

17 

6.35 

14 

3.89 

9 

3.07 

7 

4.22 

10 

2.17 

8 

4.85 

14 

February.  .. 

7.53 

10   3.19 

10 

1.34 

8 

2.12 

9 

7.20 

9 

6.13 

9 

3.90 

5 

4.78 

9 

3.76 

10 

6.97 

20 

4.24 

17 

1.83 

10 

March 

2.20 

11. 

2.06 

8 

1.52 

9 

.74 

4 

3.04 

12 

1.58 

7 

6.30 

12 

3.14 

12 

2.00 

8 

1.29 

8 

1.64 

10 

0.78 

4 

3.55 

15 

.73 

9 

1.61 

9 

1.57 

4 

.94 

3 

.12 

1 

2.36 

8 

2.31 

9 

2.19 

5 

1.53 

4 

1.93 

5 

1.10 

7 

.0.52 

3 

1.04 

7 

.74 

5 

.23 

2 

.78 

5 

.63 

2 

1.46 

6 

.03 

2 

.08 

2 

.20 

2 

.21 

3 

.16 

3 

.0.01 

1 

0.34 

4 

.05 

1 
83 

.04 

22.93 

1 
69 

71 

.23 

3 

78 

.02 

1 

58 

.02 

2 
79 

.0.08 
18.02 

1 
49 

0.08 
23.98 

0 

52 

37 

59 

19.31 

47 

46 

49.27 

13.62 

10.08 

24.73 

34.92 

38.84 

21.35 

14.10 

34.71 

85 

Average  Eain-fall  from  the  season  of  1849-50,  to  that  of  1873-4—25  Seasons— 23.9  inches. 


METEOROLOGICAL    RECORD, 
Foe  the  Month  ending  Decembee  31st,  1874. 

(Prepared  for  The  Hobticulttjbist  by  Thos.  Tennent, 
Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No. 
423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office) . 

BAEOMETEE. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.22  in. 

do  12  m 30.22 

do  3  P.  M 30.21 

do  6p.m 30.20 

Highest  point  on  the  4th,  at  9  a.m 30.36 

Lowest  point  on  the  26th,  at  6  p.  m 29.88 

THEEMOMETEE. 
(  With  north  exposure  and  free  from  reflected  heat.) 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 43° 

do  12  m 48° 

do  3  p.  M 50° 

do  6  p.  m 44° 

Highest  point  on  the  1st,  at  12  m 59c 

Lowest  point  on  the  28th,  at  9  a.  m 36° 


SELF  -  EEGISTEEING    THEEMOMETEE . 

Mean  height  during  the  night 38° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  1st 47° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  26th  and  30th 31° 

"WINDS. 
North  and  north-east  on  15  days ;  south-east  on  2 
days;  north-west  and  west  on  14  days. 

WEATHEE. 
Clear  on  18  days;  cloudy  on  5  days;  variable  on  8  days; 
rain  on  4  days. 

BAIN   GAUGE. 

1st 0.06 

2d 0.02 

3d 0.08 

24th 0.12 

Total 0.28 

Total  Bain  of  the  season  to  date 9 .01 


LrROUP 


OF      L 


1.  Li  Hum  chalcedonicum 

2.  Lilium  japonicum  longiflorum. 


ILIES. 

3.  Lilium  auratum. 

4.  Lilium  lancifolium. 


THE 


AND   FLORAL  MAGAZINE. 


Yol.  Y. 


SAN  FRANCISCO,   FEBRUARY,    1875. 


No.  2. 


THE    TKEES    OF    CALIFORNIA,   INDIGE- 
NOUS AND  EXOTIC. 

BY   DB.    HENBY   DEGEOOT. 

The  soil  and  climate  of  California  are 
well  adapted  to  the  vigorous  and  health- 
ful growth  of  a  great  variety  of  trees. 
She  had  a  rich  flora  of  her  own  to  be- 
gin with.  The  varieties  of  her  native 
trees  were  numerous,  to  say  nothing  of 
her  plants  and  flowering  shrubs.  Fifty 
genera  of  trees  grow  between  San  Fran- 
cisco and  the  Columbia  River,  to  which 
the  country  south  adds  a  considerable 
number;  the  Palm  and  other  numerous 
families  being  found  only  in  that  direc- 
tion. Already  the  exotics — fruit,  orna- 
mental, and  timber  trees  being  included 
— outnumber  those  of  native  origin; 
this  preponderance  being  every  year 
rapidly  increased  through  the  importa- 
tion of  new  varieties.  There  are  now 
growing  in  some  of  the  nurseries  of 
this  State  more  than  fifty  different  gen- 
era of  trees,  some  of  which  embrace 
many  species — the  entire  number  well 
grown,  or  sufficiently  advanced  for 
transplanting,  exceeding  a  million. 
While  these  collections  are  made  up 
mostly  of  fruit-trees,  they  contain  also 

Vol.  V— 6. 


a  great  many  forest  and  shade  trees; 
the  whole  having  been  gathered  from 
nearly  all  parts  of  the  world.  A  major- 
ity of  the  fruit  and  forest  trees  are  im- 
portations from  the  Eastern  States, 
though  many,  both  of  these  and  all 
other  kinds,  have  been  obtained  from 
Australia,  Europe,  China,  Japan,  and 
countries  on  the  continent  to  the  south 
of  us.  "While  California  has  many  no- 
ble families  of  forest-trees,  she  has  pro- 
duced but  few  native  fruit-trees  of  value, 
only  the  wild  Plum  and  a  few  others 
being  much  esteemed  as  esculents. 

The  kindly  manner  in  which  exotics 
of  every  description  take  to  our  soil  and 
climate,  and  the  rapidity  and  vigor 
with  which  trees  of  all  kinds  grow  here, 
establish  that  arboriculture  must  early 
become  one  of  the  leading  pursuits  of 
California.  In  no  other  part  of  the 
world  is  this  vegetable  growth  so  quick 
and  so  hardy  as  here.  Trees  here  ad- 
vance with  the  luxuriance  of  the  trop- 
ics, combining  with  these  the  solidity  and 
strength  of  the  higher  latitudes.  Ap- 
ple, Plum,  and  Cherry  trees,  one  year 
from  the  bud,  frequently  stand  ten  and 
twelve  feet  in  height.  Cuttings  set  out 
in  the  winter  bear  Grapes  in  the  fall, 
and  the  hardier  fruits  become  prolific 


42 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOBTICULTUKIST. 


bearers  within  two  or  three  years  from 
the  time  they  are  planted. 

It  is  a  singular  circumstance,  howev- 
er, that  while  almost  all  exotics  find  in 
California  a  congenial  home,  many  of 
the  plants   and    trees    native  to    this 
country  do  not  readily  thrive  elsewhere, 
and  in  some  instances  can  not,  when 
sent  abroad,  be  acclimated  at  all.  Seeds 
and  young  trees  sent  to  other  countries, 
and  planted  with  care,  have  refused  to 
germinate,  or  take  root;  or,  if  they  did 
so,  were  either  short-lived,  or  maintained 
only  a  feeble  and  sickly  existence.  One 
reason  of  this  may  be  that  the  flora  of 
this  coast,  owing  to  its  isolated  situa- 
tion, is  possessed  of  inherent  peculiari- 
ties.    Bounded  by  an  immense  stretch 
of  ocean  on  the  one  hand,  and  by  lofty 
snow-covered  mountains  and  broad  des- 
erts on  the  other,  it  remains  in  its  prim- 
itive   condition,     uncontaminated    by 
intermixture   with   the   flora    of   other 
lands.     Confirmed  by  centuries  of  hab- 
it, these  peculiarities  have  become  con- 
stitutional to  a  degree  that  unfits  these 
plants   and  trees  for  thriving  in  any 
but  their  native  soil  and  climate.     On 
the  other  hand,  some  of  the  vegetable 
products  of   California   do   well  when 
transplanted    to    a  distance,    growing 
with  a  readiness  and  vigor  unsurpassed 
in  their  birth-place.     Unquestionably 
the  range   within  which  fruits  mature 
covers  a  greater  variety  of  products  in 
California  than  in  any  other  country. 
In  fact,  it  may  be  said  to  reach  over 
both    the    temperate    and    the    torrid 
zones,  since  there  is  scarcely  a  tree  or 
plant  common  to  both  but  what  can  be 
successfully  grown  in  the  open  air  at 
some  locality  within  her  limits. 

To  enumerate  the  different  kinds  of 
fruit-trees  now  cultivated  in  California 
would  be  simply  to  catalogue  the  best 
varieties  of  these  known  throughout 
the  world.     Whatever  is  choice  in  oth- 


er countries  has  been  introduced  here 
— sometimes  aggregated  in  a  single 
nursery.  Imported  trees,  valuable  for 
fuel  and  timber;  also,  trees  and  shrubs 
selected  for  purposes  of  adornment — 
we  have  in  great  variety.  Thus  we 
count,  among  ornamental  trees,  the 
Palm,  the  Willow,  the  Pepper-tree,  the 
Acacia,  the  Magnolia,  the  Weeping 
Elm,  and  many  others,  including  some 
of  strange  and  beautiful  form  brought 
from  China  and  Japan.  Among  the 
useful  varieties  are  to  be  seen  the  Locust, 
Eucalyptus,  Ash,  Walnut,  Poplar,  Lin- 
den, Maple  (including  the  Rock  or  Su- 
gar Maple,  which  it  is  thought  will 
thrive  here),  and  a  great  many  other 
trees,  valuable  in  an  economical  point 
of  view.  Some  of  the  Palms  and  other 
ornamental  trees  are  very  superb,  and 
sell  often  for  high  prices  —  as  much 
sometimes  as  four  or  five  hundred  dol- 
lars being  paid  for  a  single  specimen. 

When  the  arborist  turns  his  attention 
to  the  native  forests  of  California,  he 
finds  a  broad  and  wonderful  field  open- 
ing before  him.  Along  the  northern 
and  central  coast  he  encounters  the 
belt  of  awful  Redwoods;  the  slopes  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada  being  covered  to  the 
height  of  nine  or  ten  thousand  feet  with 
a  majestic  growth  of  Pine,  Fir,  and 
Cedar. 

These  Redwoods  are  of  two  kinds, 
the  Sequoia  sempervirens  and  the  Se- 
quoia gigantea.  The  former,  usually  styl- 
ed simply  Redwoods,  are  confined  to 
the  foggy  belt  of  the  Coast  Range, 
reaching,  with  some  interruptions,  from 
the  northern  limit  of  the  State  down  to 
the  vicinity  of  San  Luis  Obispo,  a  dis- 
tance of  more  than  five  hundred  miles; 
while  the  latter,  under  the  name  of  the 
"  Big  Trees,"  has  a  much  more  restrict- 
ed habitat,  being  found  only  at  seven 
or  eight  points  along  the  higher  foot- 
hills of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  The  Sequoia 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


43 


occurs  nowhere  out  of  California,  nor  is 
it  met  with  here  at  any  other  places 
than  those  above  stated.  From  the 
Redwood  forests  along  the  coast  many 
millions  of  feet  of  lumber  of  a  very  val- 
uable kind  are  made  every  year. 

There  are  sixteen  species  of  Pines  in 
California,  the  most  valuable  of  which 
is  that  known  as  the  Sugar  Pine.  This 
tree  grows  to  a  great  size,  reaching  oft- 
en a  height  of  three  hundred  feet,  and 
a  diameter  of  twelve  feet.  It  makes  an 
excellent  lumber,  being  much  sought 
after  for  inside  work,  cabinet  ware,  and 
various  other  uses. 

Twelve  species  of  the  Oak  are  recog- 
nized by  botanists  as  belonging  to  this 
State.  The  most  of  these  are  very 
beautiful,  and  several  of  the  species  are 
large  and  picturesque  trees,  but  only 
one  or  two  are  of  any  value  for  use  as 
lumber,  the  wood  being  soft  and  brit- 
tle. The  Oak  here  does  not  grow  tall, 
with  a  straight  grain  and  tough  fibre, 
as  in  most  other  countries;  consequent- 
ly it  is  not  a  serviceable  timber  except 
for  the  purpose  of  ship-knees  and  the 
like,  though  every  variety  burns  well. 
The  Live-oak,  which  grows  often  in 
clusters,  has  a  very  hard  wood,  render- 
ing it  fit  for  certain  mechanical  uses. 
One  species  of  the  "White  Oak  has  also 
a  :fine  grain  and  tough  fibre,  rendering 
it  suitable  for  farming  utensils.  What 
are  known  as  the  Poison  Oak  and  the 
Huckleberry  Oak  are  mere  shrubs,  grow- 
ing only  a  few  feet  high.  The  White 
or  Long-acorned  Oak,  very  common  in 
California,  has  wide-spreading  branch- 
es; its  diameter  being  often  greater 
than  its  height,  which  seldom  exceeds 
sixty  feet.  The  wood  is  crooked  and 
brash,  but  the  acorn  it  grows  is  very 
large,  being  sometimes  over  two  inches 
long.  When  roasted  it  tastes  not  un- 
like the  Chestnut,  though  slightly  bitter 
and  astringent.     This  acorn,  like  that 


of  the  Burr  Oak,  was  formerly  much 
used  by  the  Indians  for  food. 

The  Burr  Oak  has  the  longest  trunk 
and  is  the  most  common  of  all  the 
Oaks  of  California,  though  its  habitat 
is  confined  to  the  large  valleys,  it  never 
being  found  in  the  mountains.  It  is  a 
graceful  and  noble  tree,  being  the 
Oak  that  gives  to  the  country  such  a 
park-like  appearance.  The  Pale  Oak, 
which  much  resembles  in  its  external 
form  the  above  species,  is  likewise  a 
very  picturesque  tree,  being  the  kind 
that  a  little  way  off  looks  so  much  like 
an  old  apple-orchard.  The  Chestnut 
Oak,  which  grows  only  along  the  cen- 
tral portion  of  the  Coast  Range  in  the 
vicinity  of  or  among  the  Redwoods, 
though  it  affords  a  worthless  wood,  is 
very  valuable  for  the  bark,  which  is 
extensively  used  for  tanning  leather. 
The  Drooping  Live-oak,  generally  dif- 
fused but  not  very  abundant,  is  another 
very  beautiful  tree,  having  long,  slen- 
der, depending  branches. 

Several  varieties  of  Spruce  and  Fir 
grow  on  the  mountains  of  California. 
The  largest  and  most  common  of  this 
family  is  the  Red  Fir  or  Douglass 
Spruce,  which  often  has  a  height  of 
three  hundred  feet,  and  a  diameter  of 
ten  feet.  The  wood  is  coarse-grained 
but  very  tough,  rendering  it  fit  for  many 
common  purposes,  such  as  the  construc- 
tion of  flumes,  fences,  ship-building, 
etc.  The  Yellow  Fir  or  Spruce  grows 
with  and  is  in  all  respects  a  good  deal 
like  the  Red,  while  the  Black  Fir,  a 
smaller  tree,  is  of  but  little  value.  The 
White  or  Balsam  Fir  is  a  large  tree, 
from  the  bark  of  which  there  exudes  a 
resinous  fluid  known  as  "balsam  of 
Fir,"  much  esteemed  for  its  supposed 
curative  properties.  The  leafy-coated 
Silver  Fir  has  a  straight  slender  trunk, 
which  grows  over  a  hundred  feet  high, 
and  two  and  a  half  feet  through,  and  is 


44 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


covered  with  long  drooping  branches 
almost  to  the  ground.  From  this  tree 
the  resinous  pitch  is  obtained  that  in 
the  Catholic  Church  service  is  burned 
as  an  incense. 

Then  we  have  among  the  characteris- 
tic trees  of  California  the  Madrofia,  an 
evergreen,  with  lustrous  oval  leaves, 
and  a  bark  that  peels  off  every  year, 
showing  at  first  a  pea-green  color,  which 
afterward  turns  to  a  bright  red:  the 
Nutmeg,  also  an  evergreen,  tapering 
like  the  Fir,  but  more  slender  and 
graceful,  and  reaching  a  height  of  only 
about  sixty  or  seventy  feet — it  yields  a 
fruit  resembling  the  Nutmeg  of  com- 
merce, but  unfit  for  use  as  a  condiment, 
having  an  unpleasant  turpentine  taste: 
the  Tew,  growing  thirty  feet  high,  with 
slender  depending  branches  and  a  val- 
uable wood:  the  Laurel  or  Bay- tree,  a 
handsome  evergreen,  fifty  to  sixty  feet 
high,  and  two  and  a  half  to  three  feet 
in  diameter  —  the  wood  hard,  with  a 
spotted  and  rippled  grain  resembling 
curled  Maple,  and  which,  being  sus- 
ceptible of  a  high  polish,  is  largely  used 
in  veneering  and  for  making  costly  fur- 
niture: the  Horse-chestnut  or  Buckeye, 
a  low  spreading  tree  or  rather  shrub, 
yielding  a  large  nut,  which  the  Indians 
eat :  the  Manzanita,  and  the  Wild  Lilac, 
also  shrubs :  with  the  Alder,  the  Willow, 
and  the  Cottonwood  trees,  all  too  well 
known  to  require  any  description. 


AEBANGEMENT   OF  FLO  WEE -BEDS. 

BY    WTT.T.TAM    SUTHERLAND. 

The  planting  of  flower-beds  and  bor- 
ders has  of  late  years  attracted  a  great 
deal  of  attention;  there  has  been  a  num- 
ber of  pros  and  cons  on  the  subject  of 
how  to  produce  the  best  display. 

Some  have  advocated  the  planting^of 
colored  leaf  plants  only,  while  others 


equally  enthusiastic  would  have  nothing 
hut  flowering  plants. 

But  in  my  humble  judgment  a  prop- 
er combination  of  both  kinds  produces 
the  best  effect.  What  is  more  effective 
than  a  bed  of  Scarlet  Geraniums,  edged 
with  some  colored  leaf  plant,  or  a  bed 
of  Scarlet  Sage,  ringed  with  White 
Sage  and  edged  with  Alternanthera  ? 

There  is  really  quite  as  much  art  in 
taking  care  of  the  beds  after  they  have 
been  planted,  as  there  is  in  planting; 
and  here  let  us  remark,  that  unless  the 
beds  or  borders  are  going  to  be  looked 
after  when  they  are  planted  there  had 
better  be  no  extra  pains  taken  in  set- 
ting out  the  various  lines  or  clumps  of 
plants,  as  they  soon  get  one  confused 
mass.  This  applies  especially  to  color- 
ed leaf  plants.  Coleus,  Achyranthus, 
Centaurea,  etc.,  all  want  the  tops  taken 
out  very  frequently;  while  the  Alternan- 
thera, when  used  as  an  edging,  requires 
to  be  clipped  with  the  shears  pretty  oft- 
en to  keep  it  within  bounds. 

The  best  flower-beds  I  have  seen  this 
season  were  at  Grirard  College.  I  have 
known  this  institution  and  grounds 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  and  never 
saw  the  place  look  as  well,  which  is 
saying  a  good  deal  for  the  abilities  of 
the  present  gardener,  Mr.  G-eorge  Hus- 
ter,  who  certainly  displays  great  taste 
in  the  arrangement  of  the  flower  gar- 
den. Thinking  some  of  your  readers 
might  gain  a  few  hints  by  knowing 
how  these  beds  were  arranged  and 
planted,  I  give  you  a  few  notes  below. 

The  flower  garden  of  which  I  am 
about  to  speak  extends  from  the  gates 
up  to  the  front  of  the  main  building  of 
the  College,  covering  a  plat  of  ground 
nearly  two  acres  in  extent,  the  curving 
of  the  carriage-drive  forming  it  some- 
what into  a  crescent  shape,  with  a  walk 
through  the  centre.  Just  within  the 
gates  on   either   side   of  the    straight 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


45 


walk  leading  to  the  main  building,  are 
beds  150  feet  long  by  sis  feet  in  width, 
planted  in  seven  distinct  lines,  begin- 
ing  with  a  front  edge  of  Alternanthera 
versicolor,  next  a  line  of  Centaurea  can- 
didissima,  next  the  golden  Coleus  Queen 
Victoria,  next  a  line  of  Coleus  Verschaf- 
feltii  which  forms  the  centre  line,  then 
a  line  of  Coleus  Golden  Beauty,  next  a 
line  of  Achyranthus  Lindenii,  and  lastly 
a  line  of  Alternanthera  amabile,  with  a  fine 
specimen  of  Dracaena  tricolor  at  all  four 
ends.  These  long  beds  add  lustre  to 
the  garden,  but  the  glory  of  all  are 
two  star- shaped  and  four  circular  beds. 
The  star  beds  are  slightly  raised,  and 
filled  with  a  fine  specimen  of  the  Pam- 
pas-grass (Gynerium  argenteum)  in  the 
middle,  with  General  Grant  Geranium 
around  it,  and  Centaurea  gymnocarpa  on 
the  edge.  Two  of  the  circles  are  plant- 
ed with  a  standard  Abutilon  Thompsonii 
in  the  middle,  General  Grant  Gerani- 
um around  it,  with  an  edging  of  the 
Golden  Feverfew.  The  other  two  cir- 
cles are  planted  with  General  Grant 
Geranium,  edged  with  variegated  Gera- 
nium Brilliant  and  Mountain  of  Snow. 
The  other  flower-beds  consist  of 
large  and  small  ovals,  square  and  ge- 
ometrical figures,  planted  as  follows: 
Some  with  Tuberoses  and  Roses,  ring- 
ed with  Stock  Gillies;  and  Cockscombs 
ringed  with  Rose  Geranium  and  edged 
with  Cuphea  Platycentra.  Another  was 
filled  with  Double  Petunia  Belle  of 
Baltimore,  edged  with  variegated  Ager- 
atum.  Others  were  filled  with  Abuti- 
lons  in  the  middle,  ringed  with  double 
Geranium  Gloire  de  Nancy,  ringed  with 
double  Geranium  Madame  Lemoine 
plunged  in  pots,  (which  Mr.  Huster 
finds  blooms  more  freely  than  when 
planted  out)  edged  with  gold  and  silver 
variegated  Geranium.  Other  beds  were 
planted  with  Tritomas,  single  and  dou- 
ble Tuberoses,   Gladiolus   and  Carna- 


tionSj  edged  with  Centaurea  and  Arte- 
misia, with  fine  standard  Lemon  Ver- 
benas (Aloysia  citriodora)  in  the  middle; 
several  beds  of  Phlox  Drummondii  and 
Verbenas,  with  standard  Lantanas  in 
the  middle,  also  several  beds  of  Eche- 
veria  metalica,  ringed  with  Echeveria  se- 
cunda,  ringed  with  Echeveria  secunda 
glauca,  and  edged  with  Sempervivum 
Californicum,  which  had  a  very  pretty 
effect.  Two  beds  were  planted  with 
Tea  Roses,  ringed  with  Nierembergia 
and  Phlox,  and  edged  with  Peristrophe 
angustifolia  aurea. 

One  large  oval  bed  was  planted  in 
the  middle  with  Colocasia  esculenta  and 
Javanica,  ringed  around  with  some  twen- 
ty varieties  of  Caladiums,  with  an  edg- 
ing of  variegated  leaf  Begonias  Rex, 
Mad.  "Wagner,  Picta  Grandis,  Grace 
Fahnestock,  Philadelphia,  and  others. 
There  must  have  been  at  least  200 
plants  in  this  bed,  and  what  surprised 
me  most,  with  little  or  no  shade.  An- 
other fine  bed  was  planted  with  Helio- 
tropes, edged  with  variegated  Ager- 
atum;  another  with  Hybrid  Perpetual 
Roses  and  Tuberoses  in  the  middle, 
ringed  with  variegated  Rose  Geranium 
Lady  Plymouth,  edged  with  Cupheapla- 
tycentra.  There  were  also  two  lines  of 
Fountain  Plants,  (Amaranthus  salicifo- 
lius)  and  between  the  flower-beds  were 
some  fine  specimens  of  Musas,  Cannas, 
Agaves,  and  Palms,  also  some  standard 
Sages,  Lantanas,  Abutilons,  Hibiscus, 
Coccolobas,  Erythrinas,  and  Ficuses; 
the  whole  making  one  of  the  grandest 
displays  I  ever  saw.  —  The  Gardener's 
Monthly. 

The  ship  Edwin,  sent  from  Bermuda 
by  Governor  Tucker,  returned  from  the 
West  India  Islands,  in  1616,  with  figs, 
pines,  sugar-canes,  plantains,  pawpaws, 
and  other  plants,  which  were  immedi- 
ately cultivated  with  success. 


46 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


SEMI-TROPICAL  FRUIT  CULTURE. 

We  have  long  had  evidence  of  the 
adaptability  of  the  soil  and  climate  of 
California  to  semi-tropical  fruit  culture. 
We  are  not  quite  so  certain,  however, 
that  we  are  cultivating  the  kind  of  semi- 
tropical  fruit  for  which  the  soil  is  best 
adapted,  and  which  will  return  most 
profit  to  the  cultivator.  For  instance, 
we  have  been,  for  many  years,  exten- 
sive wine-producers,  yet  we  are  undeci- 
ded as  to  which  is  the  best  variety  of 
Grape-vine  to  propagate  in  our  yards; 
and  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion 
-among  the  most  experienced  culturists 
.as  to  which  is  the  best  land  for  the 
vine — the  valley  or  the  foot-hills.  The 
latter  is  becoming  more  .and  more  pop- 
ular, but  the  verdict  is  far  from  being 
unanimous  in  its  favor.  We  are  only 
just  beginning  to  learn  that  we  can 
raise  a  Grape  that  will  make  a  tolerably 
good  raisin,  but  it  may  be  a  long  while 
yet  before  we  settle  upon  any  particular 
variety  of  Grape  as  being  the  one  best 
adapted  for  curing.  The  founders  of 
the  California  missions  discovered  eigh- 
ty years  ago  that  the  Orange  would 
thrive  and  bear  fruit  in  a  few  favored 
spots  in  the  southern  counties,  but  it 
has  taken  all  these  many  years  to  find 
out  that  as  good  if  not  a  better  Orange 
can  be  raised  within  the  winter  snow- 
belt  of  the  northern  counties.  It  is 
only  within  the  last  few  years  that  So- 
lano County  has  demonstrated  a  capa- 
bility of  producing  Oranges  nearly  two 
months  in  advance  of  the  Orange- 
groves  of  southern  California.  We 
have  Date-palms  now  growing  in  our 
soil  which  have  leaved  and  blossomed 
profusely  and  uninterruptedly  for  a 
century,  but  we  have  yet  to  learn  wheth- 
er they  can  be  made  to  bear  fruit,  like 
the  Palms  of  Arabia,  by  artificial  fertil- 
ization.    The  fact  that  the  Palms  of 


Arabia  would  not  bear  fruit  were  this 
artificial  fertilization  discontinued,  may 
perhaps  enlighten  us  as  to  the  cause  of 
the  barrenness  of  our  own.  The  Ba- 
nana is  successfully  raised  in  Florida, 
which  possesses  a  climate  during  win- 
ter much  more  rigid  than  ours,  but  it  is 
only  a  few  years  since  the  experiment 
was  first  tried  here. 

The  first  Banana-tree  planted  in  the 
State  of  California  was  in  all  probability 
planted  by  one  of  the  professors  of  St. 
Vincent  College,  Los  Angeles,  in  the 
college-grounds;  but  the  first  plant  to 
bear  is  now  growing  in  Paradise  Valley, 
near  San  Diego.  The  pods  were  small, 
but  exceedingly  delicious,  and  this  has 
been  the  character  of  the  fruit  of  all  the 
Banana-trees  that  have  since  fruited  in 
other  parts  of  this  State.  Many  semi- 
tropical  fruit  culturists  are  of  the  opin- 
ion that  we  shall  find  out,  by-and-by, 
that  there  is  a  hardier  Banana-tree  than 
the  particular  one  with  which  experi- 
ments have  been  made  hitherto,  which 
can  be  more  successfully  cultivated  in 
California. 

Fruit  culturists  in  this  State  have 
been  until  lately  groping  in  the  dark. 
Some  of  them  are  doing  so  still.  They 
have  been  to  apt  to  regulate  the  nature 
of  the  trees  and  plants  in  latitudinal 
order,  without  making  any  allowances 
for  isothermal  changes.  The  isother- 
mal line  does  not  follow  the  parallels  of 
latitude  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  es- 
pecially in  this  State,  any  more  than  it 
does  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  The  northerly  variation  is, 
in  fact,  much  greater,  which  unques- 
tionably requires  a  corresponding  mod- 
ification of  the  laws  governing  the  cult- 
ure of  fruits.  These  facts  and  surmises 
suggest  a  wider  range  to  our  semi-trop- 
ical fruit-producing  territory  than  that 
which  we  have  been  heretofore  willing 
to  allow  it. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


47 


MOEAL   OF  FLOWERS. 

BY    AN  AMATEUE. 

"Not  a  tree, 

A  plant,  a  leaf,  a  blossom,  but  contains 
A  folio  volume.    We  may  read,  and  read, 
And  read  again,  and  still  find  something  new, 
Something  to  please,  and  something  to  instruct, 
E'en  in  the  noisome  weed." 

Flowers  have  been,  to  the  poets  of 
all  ages,  and  in  all  countries,  a  never- 
failing  source  of  inspiration,  and  to 
mankind  at  large,  "a  joy,  a  pure  de- 
light," from  the  creation  even  to  the 
present  time;  and  will  be  so,  while  we 
have  eyes  to  see  and  hearts  to  under- 
stand and  appreciate  the  blessings  that 
are  scattered  around  us;  for,  as  Keats 
says: 

"  A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  for  ever; 
Its  loveliness  increases;  it  will  never 
Pass  into  nothingness;  but  still  will  keep 
A  bower  of  quiet  for  us,  and  a  sleep 
Full  of  sweet  dreams  and  health." 

And  is  not  a  flower  "a  thing  of  beau- 
ty?"— is  it  not  a  thing  of  surpassing  love- 
liness ?  Who  can  gaze  on  its  exquisite- 
ly perfect  form,  its  unrivaled  brillian- 
cy of  hue,  without  a  thrill  of  admira- 
tion and  a  sensation  of  pleasure — pleas- 
ure which  passes  not  away,  but  dwells 
in  the  memory  like  a  pleasant  perfume, 
that  remains  long  after  the  object  has 
perished.  And  why  is  this  ?  Because  of 
its  purity,  its  freedom  from  aught  that 
is  gross  and  therefore  perishable.  None 
we  venture  to  aver  can  gaze  on  those 
beautiful  "  alphabets  of  creation,"  those 
adorners  of  earth'a  bosom,  unmoved, 
but  such  as  have  hearts  utterly  corrupt- 
ed, and  rendered  impervious  to  every 
sweet  and  gentle  impression,  and  even 
such  will  at  times  feel  stirring  within 
them  at  the  sight  thoughts  that  have 
long  slumbered;  and  awakened  by  those 
l'  silent  monitors,"  the  "  still  small  voice 
of  conscience"  is  heard,  inciting  them 
to  shake  off  the  trammels  of  guilt,  and 


return  to  the  ways  of  pleasantness  and 
peace,  wherein  their  feet  once  trod, 
when 

"The  flowers  in  silence  seemed  to  breathe 
Such  thoughts  as  language  could  not  tell." 

We  have  called  the  flowers  ' '  silent 
monitors,"  and  not  unadvisedly,  for 
many  are  the  lessons  they  teach,  of  pa- 
tient submission,  meek  endurance,  and 
innocent  cheerfulness  under  the  pres- 
sure of  adverse  circumstances : 

"  They  smilingly  fulfill 
Their  Maker's  will, 

All  meekly  bending  'neath  the  tempest's  weight, 
By  pride  unvisited, 
Though  richly  raimented, 

As  is  a  monarch  in  his  robes  of  state." 

Many  are  the  moral  precepts  they  in- 
culcate, bidding  us  admire  the  wisdom 
of  their  Omnipotent  Creator,  in  their 
infinite  variety  of  forms  and  colors,  and 
perfect  adaptation  to  the  situation  they 

occupy. 

"  Not  a  flower 

But  shows  some  touch,  or  freckle,  streak,  or 

stain, 
Of  His  unrival'd  pencil.     He  inspires 
Their  balmy  odors,  and  imparts  their  hues, 
And  bathes  their  eyes  with  nectar,  and  includes 
In  grains  as  countless  as  the  sea-side  sands 
The  forms  with  which  He   sprinkles  all  the 

earth." 

They  tell  us  to  be  grateful  for  these 
abundant  manifestations  of  His  atten- 
tions, not  only  to  our  actual  wants  and 
necessities,  but  also  to  our  comforts  and 
enjoyments;  opening  to  us  this  source 
of  pure  and  innocent  gratification,  in 
order  to  strengthen  us  against  the  al- 
lurements of  folly,  and  wean  our  hearts 
from  the  guilty  pleasures  of  sensuality 
into  which  they  are  too  apt  to  be 
drawn. 

' '  God  might  have  bade  the  earth  bring  forth 
Enough  for  great  and  small, 

The  Oak-tree  and  the  Cedar-tree, 
Without  a  flower  at  all. 

He  might  have  made  enough,  enough, 
For  every  want  of  ours 


48 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


For  luxury,  medicine,  and  toil, 
And  yet  have  made  no  flowers. 

"  Our  outward  life  requires  them  not, 

Then  wherefore  had  they  birth? — 
To  minister  delight  to  man, 

To  beautify  the  earth ; 
To  whisper  hope — to  comfort  man 

Whene'er  his  faith  is  dim, 
For  whoso  careth  for  the  flowers 

Will  care  much  more  for  Him!" 


CULTIVATION   OF  THE   CASTOE  BEAN. 

A  correspondent  of  the  San  Diego 
Union  furnishes  that  journal  with  the 
following:  "Last  spring  Mrs.  M.  A. 
Burton,  who  is  a  woman  of  rare  ener- 
gy and  business  capacity,  decided  to 
put  under  cultivation  about  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  on  the  Jamul  ranch. 
It  was  too  late  to  plant  grain,  the  land 
was  not  fenced,  and  there  was  no  chance 
for  irrigation.  So  it  was  decided  to  at- 
tempt the  cultivation  of  Castor  beans. 

"The  land  was  plowed  and  laid  off  as 
for  Corn,  and  the  beans  dropped  in  the 
furrows  and  covered  with  a  plow.  It  re- 
quired 250  lbs.  to  plant  the  100  acres. 
When  the  plants  came  up  they  were 
thinned  out,  leaving  only  one  to  each 
hill,  about  five  feet  apart  one  way  and 
three  the  other.  The  land  was  culti- 
vated once,  but  riot  irrigated,  and  need- 
ed no  fencing,  as  no  stock  will  touch 
the  plants.  About  August  the  beans 
began  to  ripen  and  picking  commenced. 
They  grow  in  the  shape  of  ' '  spikes," 
from  eight  to  fifteen  inches  long,  con- 
taining a  large  number  of  pods,  each  of 
which  contains  three  beans.  The  sort 
cultivated  is  different  from  the  tree  kind 
grown  as  an  ornamental  shrub;  it  forms 
a  plant  about  six  feet  high,  and  is  an  an- 
nual. The  peculiarity  rendering  it  prof- 
itable to  cultivate  is,  that  when  ripe  the 
pod  bursts  open  with  such  violence  that 
the  beans  are  thrown  out  to  a  distance 
of  several  feet. 


' '  The  method  of  gathering  and  pre- 
paring for  market  is  as  follows :  Every 
day  the  ripe  spikes  are  gathered  by 
hand,  put  in  sacks,  and  hauled  to  the 
'  popping-ground,'  which  is  a  space  of 
about  an  acre,  made  smooth  and  hard 
like  an  old-fashioned  buckwheat  thrash- 
ing-ground. Here  the  spikes  are  spread, 
and  during  the  day  they  pop  open  from 
the  heat  of  the  sun,  throwing  out  the 
beans.  Each  morning  the  straw  is  rak- 
ed off,  the  beans  shoveled  up,  cleaned 
in  a  fanning-mill,  and  sacked,  ready 
for  market.  By  the  time  the  field  is 
once  picked  it  is  ready  for  another  pick- 
ing. Eight  to  ten  men  have  been  em- 
ployed picking  on  one  hundred  acres. 

"  The  yield  is  estimated  at  1,500  lbs. 
per  acre,  worth  four  cents  per  pound, 
or  a  gross  yield  of  $60  per  acre.  The 
expense  of  cultivation,  etc.,  is  estimated 
this  year  at  one- half  this  amount,  but 
is  greater  than  it  probably  will  be  anoth- 
er season,  owing  to  inexperience  and 
preparing  new  land.  There  is  proba- 
bly no  crop  so  easily  raised  that  will 
yield  so  large  a  return." 


INCIDENTAL  NOTES  ON  THE  FLOEA 
OF  JAPAN. 

FEOM    A    PBIVATE    LETTEB. 

The  approach  to  Yokohama  is  very 
interesting  for  miles,  the  shores  being 
sandstone  bluffs  in  plateaus,  finally  ris- 
ing into  hills;  then  sharp  jagged  peaks, 
sometimes  conical,  and  clothed  to  their 
tops  (in  October)  with  quite  a  luxuriant 
foliage,  with  frequent  Fir-trees  of  a  va- 
riety looking  from  a  distance  like  Palms. 
Japan  is  said  to  be  the  richest  in  its 
conif  erse  of  any  country  in  the  world — 
The  trees  in  the  dense  grove  back  of 
the  temples  at  Tokio  are  of  great  varie- 
ty— some  with  soft  foliage  and  graceful 
drooping  branches,  others  with  rich 
waxen  leaves,   and  many   varieties  of 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


49 


conif  eree.  The  beauty  and  purity  of  the 
greens  I  never  saw  equaled.  There  are 
several  miles  of  drives  winding  round 
in  the  grove  surrounding  the  great  tem- 
ple, and  the  trees  have  been  trained  in 
their  early  growth  so  as  to  incline  to- 
ward each  other  on  either  side  of  the 
road,  so  that  it  gives  one  a  feeling  that 
they  are  doing  homage  to  the  passer-by. 
They  are  very  tall,  and  some  in  the 
grove  are  very  large,  and  nearly  all  the 
trunks  are  covered  with  vines  climbing 
and  winding  about  them.  I  took  a 
ride  of  seven  miles  from  Tokio,  and 
climbed  a  point  which  gave  me  an  ex- 
tended view  of  a  large  cultivated  valley, 
backed  by  a  range  of  hills.  The  whole 
country  rfc  picturesque  and  varied  in 
scenery.  In  the  spring  and  summer 
the  country  is  said  to  be  charming  from 
the  richness  and  variety  of  its  flora. 
There  are  large  groves  of  the  Japonica, 
and  the  Azalea  is  often  seen  mixed  with 
the  Tea-plant,  forming  long  hedges. 
That  magnificent  Lily  we  sometimes  see 
in  gardens  and  drug-stores  to  sell  is  as 
common  here  as  the  Poppy  in  Califor- 
nia. 

The  hills  around  the  bay  of  Nagasaki 
are  very  picturesque  and  thickly  cover- 
ed with  trees,  shrubbery,  and  vines,  and 
the  stone  walls  and  old  temples  on  sun- 
ny sides  are  covered  with  mosses,  lich- 
ens, and  ferns,  and  this  growth  extends 
over  the  floors  and  pathways.  Before 
reaching  this  place  we  passed  through 
the  island  sea.  It  is  so  full  of  islands 
that  navigation  is  difficult.  They  are 
all  clothed  with  verdure,  and,  although 
many  of  them  have  quite  high  points, 
they  are  terraced  and  cultivated  to  the 
top. 

Timbeb,  for  durability,  is  usually  cut 
in  midsummer  or  midwinter,  as  then 
the  seasoning  process  is  more  rapid  and 
perfect. 

Vol.  V.— 7. 


BLUE   GUil   AND   ITS   CULTURE. 

The  Eucalypti  family  is  rather  num- 
erous— there  being  not  less  than  thirty 
species,  of  which  the  "Blue  Gum"  or 
Eucalyptus  globulus  ranks  highest  in 
the  estimation  of  Californians.  Of  all 
trees,  whether  of  this  family  or  any  oth- 
er, "Blue  Gum"  is  the  most  rapid  grower 
— besides  possessing  medical  qualities 
which  add  much  to  its  value.  For  a 
sparsely  wooded  region,  where  the  tem- 
perature does  not  descend  below  25  de- 
grees Fahrenheit,  no  variety  of  tree  can 
be  grown  to  the  same  size  in  the  same 
period  of  time.  Its  wood  is  valuable  for 
fuel  as  well  as  manufacturing.  There 
are,  however,  other  species  of  the  fami- 
ly, but  little  known  here  generally  at 
present,  that  will  at  np  distant  day  be- 
come quite  if  not  more  popular  than  the 
"Blue  Gum, "whose  wood  is  harder, 
closer  grained,  and  better  adapted  to 
the  thousand  uses  to  which  timber  is 
applied.  When  it  becomes  known  that 
this  family  has  among  its  members  spe- 
cies whose  wood,  can  be  converted  into 
shingles,  studding,  and  weather-board- 
ing, and  that  buildings  constructed  of 
such  will  not  only  be  remarkable  for 
their  durability,  but  nearly  as  "fire- 
proof" as  are  iron  buildings,  and  on 
which  underwriters  will  willingly  issue 
policies  at  half  the  rates  common  on 
other  buildings-,  then  the  value  of  such 
species  will  be  better  appreciated  by 
tree-growers. 

Culture. — Make  boxes  about  two  feet 
long  by  sixteen  inches  wide,  and  from 
three  to  four  inches  deep,  allowing 
small  holes  in  the  bottom  for  drainage. 
Fill  up  till  within  half  an  inch  of  the 
top  with  fine  alluvial  soil,  moderately 
rich.  Smooth  the  surface;  sprinkle  the 
seed  evenly  all  over  it,  and  cover  with 
an  eighth  of  an  inch  of  soil  composed  of 
half  sand.     To  attain   the  best  results 


50 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


the  boxes  should  be  placed  in  a  "cold 
frame."  If  sown  in  summer,  shade  the 
glass  by  a  covering  of  whitewash  or  light 
muslin.  In  the  absence  of  glass,  make 
a  frame  of  boards  with  a  movable  cover 
made  of  laths  nailed  from  one-fourth  to 
one- half  inch  apart,  under  which  place 
the  boxes.  Water  will  be  needed  daily 
if  the  weather  is  warm  and  little  moist- 
ure in  the  atmosphere,  and  should  be 
applied  with  a  fine  sprinkler.  Seed 
will  germinate  in  from  eight  to  four- 
teen days.  When  plants  are  two  inches 
high,  begin  to  "harden"  them  by  al- 
lowing more  air,  increasing  from  time 
to  time  until  they  have  become  hardy 
enough  to  withstand  the  hot  sun  of  the 
day  and  the  cool  air  of  the  night. 
When  six  Linches  or  more  high  they 
may  be  transplanted  to  a  temporary  or 
permanent  place,  care  being  taken  to 
remove  the  plants  with  some  earth  at- 
tached to  the  roots,  at  least  not  to  al- 
low the  roots  to  be  exposed  to  the  at- 
mosphere. For  forest  culture,  the  young 
trees  should  be  planted  from  eight  to 
twelve  feet  apart  each  way,  and  be- 
tween the  rows  should  be  cultivated  for 
two  years,  when  they  will  be  strong 
enough  in  trunk  and  root  to  care  for 
themselves. — Cotton  Culture. 


THE  KUM-QUA.T. 

BY    A    FBtTITIST. 

The  fruiting  of  the  Kum-Quat  in  va- 
rious parts  of  California,  especially  in 
the  more  southern  counties  of  the  State, 
should  awaken  an  interest  among  po- 
mologists  in  the  fruit.  It  is  a  small 
species  of  Orange,  Citrus  Japonica, 
which  is  found  in  both  Japan  and  Chi- 
na, as  well  as  in  a  few  places  in  the 
Sandwich  Islands.  It  was  figured  and 
described  in  Europe  in  the  last  century 


by  Thurnberg,  but  it  was  not  known  in 
cultivation  there  in  their  conservatories 
until  1842,  when  Mr.  Fortune  intro- 
duced it  into  England,  and  it  was  culti- 
vated at  Chiswick,  near  London;  of 
course,  in  a  hothouse.  Later  it  has 
been  successfully  fruited  there,  and  is 
likely  to  become  a  popular  plant.  We 
see  specimens  of  it  in  some  of  our  gar- 
dens in  San  Francisco  and  elsewhere, 
but  it  requires  a  warmer  climate  than 
most  situations  on  our  middle  coast 
near  the  ocean,  and  fruits  very  seldom 
in  the  open  air  in  these  localities — per- 
haps, chiefly  from  their  being  so  much 
moisture. 

In  China  the  Kum-Quat  is  grown  as 
a  shrub  about  six  feet  high;  but  trained 
to  the  back-wall  of  a  greenhouse,  it 
has  in  England  reached  the  height  of 
fifteen  feet.  The  plant  resembles  a 
dwarf  Orange-tree,  but  with  smaller 
and  thinner  leaves;  it  flowers  freely, 
and  is  very  attractive  in  bloom.  The 
fruit,  which  is  about  the  size  of  a  goose- 
berry, is  like  an  Orange  in  miniature, 
having  a  bright  orange  rind,  which, 
when  scraped,  gives  off  a  highly  agreea- 
ble perfume.  Within  there  are  five 
cells,  filled  with  an  exceedingly  acid 
pulp.  The  fruit  picked  with  its  leaves 
attached  makes  a  beautiful  ornament 
for  the  dessert,  and  when  preserved 
with  sugar  forms  a  sweetmeat  which 
is  hig'hly  esteemed.  According  to  Mr. 
Fortune  the  Kum-Quat  grows  in  the 
greatest  perfection  in  a  portion  of  Chi- 
na so  cold  that  the  Orange  will  not 
thrive,  and  that  in  the  Orange  region 
of  southern  China  the  Kum-Quat  does 
not  succeed  so  well.  The  Chinese  grow 
it  in  pots,  but  it  does  better  in  the  open 
ground.  The  plant  requires  a  warm 
summer  to  ripen  its  wood,  and  a  dry 
winter,  and  it  would  no  doubt  prove 
hardy  in  many  localities  in  the  Middle 
States,  as  in  China  it  endures  a  cold  of 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


51 


below  20°.  It  being  an  ornamental 
plant  in  both  flower  and  fruit,  and  use- 
ful as  well,  it  is  hoped  that  our  nursery- 
men will  cultivate  it  for  sale  more  than 
they  do. 

The  Kum-Quat  will  not  graft  upon 
the  Orange ;  the  proper  stock  is  Citrus 
trifoliate,  a  small  hardy  species,  which 
propagates  from  cuttings.  The  pre- 
served fruit  is  to  be  found  for  sale  in 
our  Chinese  and  Japanese  stores,  and 
also  on  the  stalls  in  the  streets  of  our 
"China-town."  It  is  a  small,  nice  pre- 
serve, quite  sweet,  with,  for  most  peo- 
ple, a  peculiarly  pleasant  flavor.  It  is 
sold  with  its  dry,  brittle,  rough  rind, 
which  is  easily  broken  by  the  hand. 
They  must  be  very  plentiful  in  China, 
for  the  price  is  quite  reasonable  even 
here.  The  stone  or  seed  is  hard,  and 
the  soft  pulp  is  all  around  it. 


LILACS. 

Lilacs  are  indigenous  to  a  compara- 
tively limited  area  in  Europe,  but  they 
have  a  wide  range  in  Asia.  In  addi- 
tion to  several  distinct  species  (for  the 
most  part  well  known  and  widely  cul- 
tivated), our  collections  have  been  from 
time  to  time  enriched  by  the  accession 
of  a  large  number  of  splendid  varieties, 
obtained  either  by  hybridizing  or  by 
selection  from  garden  sports.  There 
are  few  garden  soils  in  which  Lilacs 
will  not  grow,  and  even  thrive;  though 
they  succeed  all  the  better  in  such  as 
are  deep  and  rich  with  a  cool  subsoil. 
An  occasional  moderate  allowance  of 
well-rotted  manure,  pointed  in  among 
the  roots,  is  always  acceptable. 

Syeixga  vulgaris  (the  common  Lilac) 
is  recorded  as  indigenous  to  Hungary 
and  Persia,  and  has  been  cultivated  in 
British  gardens  since  1597.  It  is  natu- 
rally a  many-stemmed  broad  bush,  vary- 


ing in  height  from  15  to  25  feet,  accord- 
ing to  soil  and  situation;  but  when 
trained  as  a  standard  it  makes  an  ex- 
tremely handsome  lawn  plant,  produc- 
ing its  grand  panicles  of  fragrant  lilac 
flowers,  about  the  middle  of  May,  in 
wonderful  profusion.  As  it  grows  free- 
ly and  rarely  fails  to  flower,  even  amid 
the  disadvantage  of  dust  and  smoke  in 
towns,  it  should  never  be  overlooked 
in  making  a  selection  for  planting 
squares  and  street  gardens.  Of  this 
species  there  are  a  large  number  of  in- 
teresting varieties,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing may  be  noted  as  very  distinct,  and, 
both  as  regards  foliage  and  flowers,  no 
less  beautiful  than  the  parent:  Alba, 
the  well-known  old  white-flowered  Li- 
lac; Noisettiana,  also  white,  but  with 
larger  panicles;  Ccerulea,  flowers  deep 
blue;  Violacea,  a  kind  with  violet  flow- 
ers; Charles  X,  purple,  panicles  very 
large;  Philemon,  lavender-colored;  Dr. 
Lindley,  rich  purple,  panicles  very 
large;  Triomphe  d'  Orleans,  pinkish  pur- 
ple; Rubra  insignis,  dark  red;  Duchesse 
de  Hours,  pale  blue,  panicles  and  flow- 
ers very  large. 

S.  PEESiCA(the  Persian  Lilac),  indi- 
genous to  Persia,  from  whence  it  was 
first  introduced  in  Europe  in  1610.  It 
is  perfectly  hardy,  and  forms  a  neat 
dwarf  bush  of  from  four  to  sis  feet  high, . 
with  numerous  slender  branches;  its 
panicles  of  pale-purple  sweetly  scented 
flowers  coming  out,  in  May  or  June,  in 
such  abundance  as  almost  to  hide  the 
foliage.  The  leaves  are  smaller  than 
those  of  any  of  the  other  species,  some- 
what lanceolate  in  form,  and  of  a  dark- 
green  color.  It  is  invaluable  for  small 
gardens  or  shrubberies,  growing  vig- 
orously in  any  kind  of  good  garden 
soil,  and  in  any  situation  in  which  a 
shrub  could  be  expected  to  thrive.  Of 
varieties,  alba,  with  pure  white  flowers, 
and  laciniata,  with  leaves  more  or  less 


52 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


deeply  pinnatifidly  cut,  are  both  quite 
as  hardy  and  as  easily  cultivated  as  the 
parent,  and  well  deserving  of  a  place 
among  the  choicest  dwarf  shrubs. 

S.  Emodi,  (the  Himalayan  Lilac,)  is 
found  abundantly  on  the  Himalayan 
Mountains,  and  was  first  sent  to  En- 
gland in  1836.  It  is  a  broad  thick-foli- 
aged  shrub  of  about  ten  feet  high.  The 
leaves  are  larger  than  those  of  the  com- 
mon species;  of  an  elliptic-oblong  form; 
bright  green  above  and  slightly  glaucous 
below.  The  flowers  are  light  purple; 
produced,  like  those  of  the  other  spe- 
cies, in  panicles,  and  usually  in  perfec- 
tion in  May.  Though  thriving  best  in 
a  moderately  sheltered  situation,  it  is  a 
very  hardy  shrub,  quite  distinct  in  ap- 
pearance from  the  others.  It  is  orna- 
mental enough  for  association  with  the 
finest  of  its  class,  forming  a  neat  stand- 
ard when  properly  trained,  and  is  very 
desirable  for  small  lawns  as  a  single 
specimen. 

S.  Josiblea  (Josika's  Lilac). — This  is 
indigenous  to  mountains  on  the  Rhine, 
and  was  named  in  compliment  to  a  la- 
dy— the  Frau  Baronin  Von  Josika — 
who  discovered  it  on  the  Siebenbergen 
Range  in  1830.  It  forms  a  handsome 
bush  of  about  ten  feet  high,  somewhat 
erect  in  its  style  of  growth.  The  flow- 
ers— which  are  produced  much  later 
than  those  of  any  of  the  other  species 
—  are  of  a  very  deep  color  and  sparing- 
ly distributed  over  the  long  panicles. 
The  leaves  are  similar  in  size  to  the 
common  Lilac,  but  more  lanceolate  in 
shape;  with  a  rough  leathery  texture, 
and  a  dark  sombre-green  color.  Though 
this  plant  neither  produces  its  flowers 
in  such  rich  masses  or  so  copiously  as 
the  common  Lilac  and  its  varieties,  it  is 
nevertheless  a  valuable  ornamental 
shrub.  It  is  hardy  enough  for  the  most 
exposed  situation,  and  so  distinct  in  ap- 
pearance, from  its  peculiar  habit  and 


foliage,  that  it  produces  the  finest  effect 
when  contrasted  with  other  shrubs  of 
lighter  tints  in  mixed  borders.  '  It 
thrives  best  in  a  deep,  rich,  and  moder- 
ately damp  soil. 

S.  eothomagensis  (the  Siberian,  or 
Rouen  Lilac  ) .  —  Some  writers  assert 
that  this  is  a  native  of  Siberia,  and  a 
distinct  species;  others  that  it  is  a  hy- 
brid raised  about  the  latter  end  of  the 
last  century  by  M.  Varin,  the  then  Di- 
rector of  the  Botanic  Gardens  at  Rouen, 
the  parents  being  S.  persica  and  S.  vul- 
garis. The  probabilities  seem  to  be  in 
favor  of  the  latter  theory,  as  in  gener- 
al appearance  it  is  just  what  might  be 
expected  from  the  blending  of  the  styles 
of  growth,  foliation,  and  flowers  of  the 
two  species.  In  any  case  the  same 
plant  is  found  in  collections  both  un- 
der the  name  we  have  adopted  and  un- 
der that  of  S.  sibirica.  It  was  first  in- 
troduced into  our  gardens  in  1795,  and 
has  since  been  widely  distributed.  It 
is  well  known  as  one  of  the  showiest, 
most  beautiful,  and  hardiest  of  flower- 
ing shrubs.  Though  more  robust  in 
its  habit  of  growth  than  S.  persica,  it 
has  a  general  appearance  suggestive  of 
a  large  variety  of  that  species,  and  is  a 
grand  plant  either  for  a  shrubbery  bor- 
der or  as  a  close  bush  for  a  lawn  speci- 
men.— The  Gardener. 


Teee  Labels.  —  The  Massachusetts 
Ploughman  says  that  the  best  and 
cheapest  labels  for  trees  are  simple 
strips  of  zinc,  corroded  by  contact 
with  the  air,  and  then  written  on  with 
a  black  lead  pencil.  This  is  said  to 
have  been  an  accidental  discovery  of 
Colonel  Wilder.  When  you  first  write 
on  them  with  a  black  pencil,  you  can 
not,  if  you  try,  rub  off  the  name,  and 
in  a  few  months  the  name  becomes 
permanent  so  that  it  can  not  be  rubbed 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


53 


off  as  long  as  the  zinc  continues  to  cor- 
rode. Colonel  Wilder  has  many  labels 
that  have  hung  on  the  trees  for  thirty 
years,  which  are  as  perfect  as  ever. 
Sometimes  the  labels  will  get  a  little 
coated  with  a  white  substance  that  gath- 
ers on  them,  but  a  light  rubbing  with 
a  moistened  finger  will  bring  out  the 
name  with  perfect  distinctness. 


THE  BEECH -TKEE. 


BY  E.    J.    HOOPEE. 


The  Beech  (Fagus  Sylvatica)  grows, 
as  we  all  know,  to  a  considerable  stat- 
ure, though  the  soil  be  rather  stony 
and  barren;  as  also  on  the  declivity  of 
hills  and  mountains,  where  they  will 
resist  the  winds  better  than  most  other 
trees.  They  would,  no  doubt,  do  well 
on  our  Coast  Range  of  mountains;  but 
then  the  nurseries  for  the  young  plants 
ought  to  be  made  upon  the  same  soil, 
for  if  they  are  raised  on  too  rich  ground 
and  warm  exposure,  and  afterward 
transplanted  into  a  bleak,  barren  situa- 
tion, they  seldom  thrive  ;  which  princi- 
ple holds  true  with  most  other  trees, 
whether  fruit  or  otherwise. 

The  timber  is  of  great  use  to  turners 
for  making  trenchers,  dishes,  trays, 
and  buckets;  also  to  the  joiner  for 
stools,  bedsteads,  etc.,  and  is  esteemed 
excellent  fire-wood.  The  mast,  as  is 
well  known,  is  very  good  for  fattening 
swine  and  deer,  and  affords  a  sweet  oil. 

It  delights  in  rather  stony  ground, 
where  it  generally  grows  very  fast.  The 
bark  of  the  tree  in  such  land  is  clear 
and  smooth;  and  although  the  timber 
is  not  so  valuable  as  that  of  many  other 
trees,  yet  as  it  will  thrive  on  such  soils, 
where  few  better  trees  will  grow,  the 
planting  of  them  should  be  encouraged, 
especially  as  it  affords  an  agreeable 
shade,  and  the  leaves  make  a  fine  ap- 


pearance in  summer,  and  continue 
green  as  long  in  autumn  as  any  of  the 
deciduous  trees;  therefore  in  parks  and 
other  plantations  this  tree  deserves  to 
be  cultivated  among  those  of  the  first 
class,  especially  where  the  soil  is  adapt- 
ed to  it. 

Thus  much  for  the  more  practical 
part  relating  to  the  Beech.  This  tree 
is  a  favorite  tree  with  naturalists  and 
poets.  Gilbert  "White,  in  his  charming 
Natural  History  of  Selborne,  where  he 
lived  and  wrote  his  famous  book,  pro- 
nounces it  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
objects  in  creation.  He  says:  "Find 
me  another  tree  that  looks  so  much 
like  a  gem  of  emerald  when  the  sun- 
beams fall  full  upon  its  foliage,  and  the 
gentle  wind  steals  softly  over  its 
branches,  producing  an  effect  which  no 
artist  could  ever  represent.  Then, 
again,  it  has  the  smoothest  and  clearest 
bark  in  the  forest;  and  many  a  lover 
has  cut  his  fair  one's  name  upon  its 
polished  rind.  There  is  also  a  sweep- 
ing grace  in  its  drooping  branches, 
hanging  in  every  grand  and  unimagin- 
able form."  "They  make  spreading 
trees,  and  noble  shades  with  their  well- 
furnished  and  glistening  leaves,"  says 
old  Evelyn;  and  but  few  men  under- 
stood better  the  beauty  of  trees. 

There  is  also  the  Purple  Beech,  an- 
other beautiful  ornament  for  parks  and 
pleasure-grounds,  which  has  been 
known  to  grow  to  the  height  of  thirty 
feet,  although  some  botanists  contend 
there  is  only  one  variety. 

Trees  are  a  delightful  study,  and  it  is 
pleasant  to  be  so  far  acquainted  with 
them  as  to  be  enabled  to  distinguish 
their  different  characters  at  a  glance. 
This  is  less  difficult  in  winter,  when  the 
ramifications  or  forms  of  the  branches 
of  the  deciduous  ones  are  so  distinctly 
outlined;  but  in  summer,  when  they 
have  put  on  their  full  foliage,  they  are 


54 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


more  alike,  and  there  are  some  kinds 
which  bear  so  close  a  resemblance  to 
others  as  only  to  be  recognized  by  a 
practiced  eye.  In  autumn,  too,  the 
pleasure  of  a  country  walk  is  increased 
by  being  able  to  point  out  every  partic- 
ular tree  by  the  rich  color  of  its  leaves, 
the  varied  hues  of  purple,  olive,  red, 
gold,  green,  and  even  crimson  (as  in 
the  Scarlet  Oaks),  which  each  tree  at 
that  time  assumes. 

Music  breathes  from  the  Beech,  as 
from  many  other  trees;  its  numerous 
spreading  branches,  at  one  time  aspir- 
ing in  airy  lightness  above  the  general 
mass  of  foliage,  at  another  feathering 
to  the  ground,  are  the  haunt  of  innu- 
merable birds.  Then  its  fine  shade — 
"  Sub  tegminefugi,"  as  the  poet  Virgil 
says. 

Summer  winds,  too  —  how  nimbly 
they  come  and  go,  causing  that  gentle 
rustling  among  the  leaves,  which  sounds 
in  accordance  with  the  rushing  of  yon- 
der mountain  stream  or  prairie  rivulet! 

Every  tree  has  its  peculiar  character- 
istics. Majesty  is  developed  in  the 
Oak,  gracefulness  in  the  Ash,  an  unde- 
fined sense  of  beauty  in  the  Birch,  and 
cheerfulness  in  the  Beech. 

Old  Beech-trees  in  the  East  are  often 
found  covered  with  gray  lichens  or 
tufts  of  moss,  in  which  field-mice  love 
to  nestle. 

No  other  bark  equally  allures  the 
young  enthusiast  to  carve  thereon  the 
name  of  his  beloved: 

"  As  the  letters  of  our  names  increase, 
So  may  our  love." 

Enthusiasts  in  all  ages  confided  their 
thoughts  to  trees,  even  before  Virgil 
sung,  or  Shakspeare  haunted  the  wild- 
wood.  Poetry  has,  also,  its  imperisha- 
ble associations,  and  many  a  lone  tree 
awakens  those  deep  emotions  which 
are  kindled  whenever  memory  recalls 
the   creation   of  poetic   genius.     How 


appropriate,  therefore,  the  elegant  ef- 
fusion of  one  of  our  poets,  when,  wan- 
dering in  a  ravine  of  Beeches,  he  thus 
personified  one  of  those  noble  trees, 
which  a  wood-chopper  had  marked 
with  his  axe: 

"  Thrice  twenty  summers  I  have  stood 
In  bloomless,  fruitless  solitude, 
Since  childhood  in  my  pleasant  bower 
First  spent  its  sweet  and  sportive  hour; 
Since  youthful  lovers  in  my  shade 
Their  vows  of  truth  and  rapture  made, 
And  in  my  trunk's  surviving  frame 
Carved  many  a  long-forgotten  name. 
0 !  by  the  sighs  of  gentle  sound, 
First  breathed  upon  this  sacred  ground, 
By  all  that  love  has  whispered  here, 
Or  beauty  heard  with  ravished  ear; 
As  Love's  own  altar  honor  me: 
Spare,  woodman,  spare  the  Beechen-tree." 

All  lovers  of  woodland  scenery  main- 
tain that  no  tree  is  more  beautiful  when 
standing  in  parks  and  pleasure-grounds. 
In  woods  at  the  East,  as  already  noticed, 
these  favorite  trees  grow  clear  of  branch- 
es to  a  great  height,  and  hence,  as  sung 
the  poet: 

"  There  oft  the  muse,  what  most  delights  her, 

sees 
Long  living  galleries  of  aged  trees, 
Bold  sons  of  earth,  that   lift  their  arms  on 

high, 
As  if  once  more  they  would  invade  the  sky. 
In  such  green  palaces  the  first  kings  reigned, 
Slept  in  their  shade,  and  angels  entertained; 
With  such  old  counselors  they  did  advise, 
And,  by  frequenting  groves,  grew  wise." 

The  stately  strong  Oak  has  abun- 
dance of  acorns,  and  from  year  to  year 
scatters  millions  upon  the  earth.  The 
Beech's  liberality  is  equally  manifested, 
and  its  fruit  is  deserving  of  brief  notice. 
Observe  the  ovate  form  of  the  inclosing 
calyx,  its  silkiness,  and  pliant  prickles, 
and  how  beautifully  the  brown  and 
glossy  mast  fits  within  that  elegant  re- 
ceptacle. 

The  Beech's  boughs,  though  compar- 
atively unpeopled  during  the  summer 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


55 


months,  are  resorted  to  in  autumn  by 
squirrels.  This  nimble  and  light-heart- 
ed creature,  with  his  numerous  relatives, 
is  here  warily  laying  up  a  store  for 
winter  consumption. 

Many  a  noble  tree  owes  its  birth  to 
Beech-mast,  which  birds  and  squirrels 
have  dropped  in  their  haste,  or  per- 
chance  forgotten  when   carefully  laid 

by- 

*■ — — 

UNHEALTHY    PLANTS— THE    REMEDY. 

BY  PETEB  HENDEESON. 

Whenever  plants  begin  to  drop  their 
leaves,  it  is  certain  that  their  health  has 
been  injured  by  over-potting,  over-wa- 
tering, over-heating,  by  too  much  cold, 
or  by  applying  such  stimulants  as  gua- 
no, or  by  some  other  means  having  de- 
stroyed the  fine  rootlets  by  which  the 
plant  feeds,  and  induced  disease  that 
may  lead  to  death.  The  case  is  not 
usually  important  enough  to  call  in  a 
"plant  doctor,"  so  the  amateur  begins 
to  treat  the  patient,  and  the  practice 
in  all  probability  is  not  unlike  that  of 
many  of  our  household  physicians,  who 
apply  a  remedy  that  increases  the  dis- 
ease. Having  already  destroyed  the, 
so  to  speak,  nutritive  organs  of  the 
plant,  the  stomach  is  gorged  with  food 
by  applying  water,  or  with  medicine  by 
applying  guano  or  some  patent  "plant 
food." 

Now  the  remedy  is  very  nearly  akin 
to  what  is  a  good  one  when  the  ani- 
mal digestion  is  deranged — give  it  no 
more  food  until  it  re-acts.  We  must 
then,  if  the  roots  of  the  plant  have  been 
injured  from  any  of  the  above-named 
causes,  let  the  soil  in  which  it  is  potted 
become  nearly  dry;  then  remove  the 
plant  from  the  pot,  take  the  ball  of 
soil  in  which  the  roots  have  been  envel- 
oped, and  crush  it  between  the  hands 


just  enough  to  allow  all  the  sour  outer 
crust  of  the  ball  of  earth  to  be  shaken 
off;  then  repot  in  rather  dry  soil  (com- 
posed of  any  fresh  soil  mixed  with 
an  equal  bulk  of  leaf -mold  or  street 
sweepings),  using  a  new  flower-pot,  or 
having  thoroughly  washed  the  old  one, 
so  that  the  moisture  can  freely  evapo- 
rate through  the  pores.  Be  careful  not 
to  overfeed  the  sick  plant.  Let  the  pot 
be  only  large  enough  to  admit  of  not 
more  than  an  inch  of  soil  between  the 
pot  and  ball  of  roots.  After  repotting, 
give  it  water  enough  to  settle  the  soil, 
and  do  not  apply  any  more  until  the 
plant  has  begun  to  grow,  unless  in- 
deed the  atmosphere  is  so  dry  that  the 
moisture  has  entirely  evaporated  from 
the  soil;  then  of  course  water  must  be 
given,  or  the  patient  may  die  from  the 
opposite  cause — starvation.  The  dan- 
ger to  be  avoided  is  in  all  probability 
that  which  brought  on  the  sickness, 
namely:  saturation  of  the  soil  by  too 
much  water.  Other  causes  may  in- 
duce sickness  to  plants,  such  as  an  es- 
cape of  gas  in  the  apartment,  or  smoke 
from  a  flue  in  the  greenhouse,  but  in 
all  cases,  when  the  leaves  fall  from  a 
plant,  withhold  water,  and  if  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  the  soil  has  been 
poisoned  by  gas,  or  sodden  by  moist- 
ure, shake  it  from  the  roots  as  before 
advised,  and  repot  in  a  fresh  flower- 
pot. Many  years  ago,  when  I  used 
smoke-flues  in  my  greenhouse,  some 
kindling  wood,  carelessly  thrown  on 
the  top  of  one  of  them,  ignited,  and 
the  smoke  caused  the  leaves  of  every 
plant  to  drop.  There  were  some  3,000 
plants,  mostly  Tea-Roses,  in  the  green- 
house; it  would  have  been  too  much 
of  a  job  to  repot  all,  but  by  withhold- 
ing water  for  some  ten  days,  until  they 
started  a  new  growth  again,  very  few 
plants  were  injured. — American  Agri- 
culturist. 


56 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


FACTS  ABOUT  HOME-MADE  EAISINS. 

We  have  made  a  record  from  time  to 
time  of  all  the  important  facts  within 
reach  about  the  production  of  raisins, 
because  there  is  now  a  good  prospect 
that  this  may  become  an  important  in- 
dustry in  this  State.  The  early  storms 
this  year  were  very  destructive  to  the 
raisin  crop.  But  the  business  in  many 
localities  has  been  advanced  beyond  the 
experimental  stage.  We  have  noticed 
both  processes  of  manufacture,  viz:  that 
by  artificial  drying,  and  by  sun-drying. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Rural  Press 
furnishes  some  important  data  about 
raisin  production  in  Yolo  County. 

"  I  irrigate  my  vineyard  by  covering 
the  ground  with  water  when  the  Mus- 
cats are  about  the  size  of  small  Peas.  If 
irrigated  earlier  they  drop  their  fruit;  if 
later,  the  ground  remains  too  wet  at  the 
time  of  ripening  and  causes  mildew. 
Two  years  ago  I  did  not  irrigate  all  the 
vineyard.  On  some  portions  that  I  did 
hot  irrigate  I  raised  twenty  pounds  of 
first  crop  and  fifty  pounds  of  second 
crop  per  vine.  But  where  I  irrigated 
the  yield  was  still  larger — so  much  so 
that  I  determined  always  to  irrigate  in 
future.  I  can  raise  on  larger  vines  fif- 
ty pounds  average  at  the  two  crops. 
This  will  make  seventeen  pounds  of  rai- 
sins, which,  at  present  prices,  will  sell 
for  $2.00 — this  much  for  raisins  from 
each  vine.  I  set  500  vines  per  acre, 
which  gives  $1,000  per  acre  for  Muscat 
raisins.  I  have  made  raisins  of  the 
Flame  Tokay  Grapes.  They  are  not 
good.  The  seeds  are  too  large  and  too 
hard.  They  yield  larger  crops  than 
the  Muscats,  but  the  superiority  of  rai- 
sins from  the  latter  more  than  compen- 
sates for  the  difference.  Besides,  my 
Muscats  grow  very  large.  I  have  meas- 
ured them  five  inches  in  their  longer 
circumference. 


"  It  costs  one  day's  labor  for  every 
250  pounds  of  fresh  Grapes  that  we 
pack  in  boxes  for  the  San  Francisco 
market;  but  when  picking  for  raisins 
they  do  much  more  than  this.  Each 
hand  will  pick  and  lay  out  for  drying 
800  pounds  per  day. 

"I  have  only  twenty -six  acres  of 
vines.  They  are  of  all  ages — from  six 
years  downward.  I  raised  about  100 
tons  of  Grapes  this  year.  Many  of 
them  were  sent  to  San  Francisco  for 
table  use.  I  am  going  very  slowly  in 
raisin  production,  and  shall  not  try  to 
do  any  more  than  I  can  do  well,  but  I 
have  already  done  enough  to  see  that 
when  once  master  of  it,  it  will  be  a 
most  pleasant  and  profitable  business. 

"I  lost  about  250  boxes  this  year  by 
the  rain.  But  such  a  sjDell  of  wet  weath- 
er so  early  in  the  season  was  never 
known  before." 

This  is  one  of  the  few  instances  which 
we  have  noted  where  irrigation  has 
been  resorted  to  for  Grape -growing. 
Irrigation  has  been  generally  discarded 
where  Grapes  are  grown  for  wine-mak- 
ing. If  the  product  of  an  irrigated 
vine  is  fifty  pounds  of  Grapes,  or  sev- 
enteen pounds  of  raisins,  worth  in  the 
market  $2.00,  certainly  the  poorest  vine- 
yard would  be  turned  to  a  better  ac- 
count than  rooting  it  up.  The  vines 
can  be  easily  grafted  and  brought  into 
partial  bearing  the  second  year. 

The  same  correspondent  reports  the 
following  facts  about  the  experiments 
of  Mr.  Briggs,  of  Davisville: 

"  I  have  forty  acres  of  Grape  -  vines 
in  my  vineyard.  This  year  I  have  made 
1,750  boxes  of  raisins,  containing  twen- 
ty-five pounds  each.  When  the  rains 
came  on  this  fall  I  had  about  400  tons 
of  Grapes  nearly  cured  for  raisins  ly- 
ing out  on  the  ground  drying.  The 
rain  spoiled  all  of  them.  Had  our  rains 
held  off  this  fall  as  they  usually  do,  I 


frony a.Tfpoto  lytfuWOGl-. 


Male  Sea- Lion  Sleeping. 


f/vna./'k3tc  l/MuYtiia, 


Male  Sea -Lion  Waking. 


SEA- LIONS,  OR  SEALS,  AT  WOODWARD'S  GARDENS. 
[See  page  63.] 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


57 


should  have  made  this  year  over  §20,- 

000  worth  of  raisins,  but  our  very  early 
rain  destroyed  more  than  three-fourths 
of  them.  Last  year  I  made  no  raisins, 
on  account  of  the  late  frost  having  kill- 
ed my  Grape  crop;  but  year  before  last 

1  made  a  quantity  that  readily  sold  for 
ten  or  eleven  cents  per  pound.  My 
raisins  are  made  from  Muscat  Grapes. 
They  yield  well  with  me  every  year. 
The  crop  this  year  was  very  good.  "We 
gathered  over  twelve  tons  of  Grapes 
from  one  acre  of  vines,  many  vines 
producing  150  pounds  each,  while  the 
average  was  about  sixty  pounds  per 
vine — that  is,  too,  without  irrigation. 
I  have  set  a  new  vineyard  of  160  acres, 
near  the  Cache  Creek  Ditch.  I  have 
chosen  that  locality  so  that  I  can  irri- 
gate them  when,  from  drouth  or  other 
cause,  there  shall  be  any  necessity  for 
doing  so.  These  vines  I  have  set  ten 
feet  apart  each  way.  I  think  they  will 
insure  a  better  growth  of  vines  with 
larger  Grapes. 


Names  of  Plants — English  vs.  Lat- 
in.—  My  friend  asks:  "What  is  this 
pretty  flower?"  "  Galasine  azurea." 
"What  a  long  name!"  "I  can  not 
shorten  it."  "But  why  have  a  Latin 
name  ?  Better  call  it  '  Blue  Smiler/ 
in  plain  English."  "Then  you  like 
such  names  as  '  Shamrock,' '  Blue  Bells/ 
'  Eglantine '  and  '  Culowkey s ' ?  "  "  Cer- 
tainly; everyone  can  understand  them." 
"You  can  recognize  the  plants?" 
"Easily."  "Well,  I  can  show  you  in 
point  endless  discussions  as  to  what 
they  are.  On  the  other  hand,  I  defy 
you  to  produce  two  persons  who  disa- 
gree as  to  what  is  meant  by  'Eucharis 
Amazonica.'  Paradoxical  as  it  may 
seem,  Latin  is,  in  such  matters,  more 
intelligible  even  to  an  Englishman  than 
English."  —  Journal  of  Horticulture. 

Vol.  V.— 6. 


THE  FUCHSIA. 

Within  the  mountain  lodge  we  sat 
At  night,  and  watched  the  slanted  snow 

Blown  headlong  over  hill  and  moor, 
And  heard,  from  dell  and  tarn  below, 
The  loosened  torrents  thundering  slow. 

'  Twas  such  a  night  as  drowns  the  stars, 
And  blots  the  moon  from  out  the  sky; 

We  could  not  see  our  favorite  larch, 
Yet  heard  it  rave  incessantly, 
As  the  white  whirlwinds  drifted  by. 

Sad  thoughts  were  near;  we  might  not  bar 
Their  stern  intrusion  from  the  door; 

Till  you  rose  meekly,  lamp  in  hand, 
And,  from  an  inner  chamber,  bore 
A  book  renowned  by  sea  and  shore. 

And,  as  you  flung  it  open,  lo ! 

Between  the  pictured  leaflets  lay, 
Embalmed  by  processes  of  time, 

A  gift  of  miDe — a  Fuchsia  spray, 

I  gathered  one  glad  holiday. 

Then,  suddenly,  the  chamber  changed, 
And  we  forgot  the  snow  and  wind; 

Once  more  we  paced  a  garden  path, 
With  even  feet  and  even  mind — 
That  red  spray  in  your  hair  confined. 

The  Cistus  trembled  by  the  porch, 
The  shadow  round  the  dial  moved; 

I  knew  this,  though  I  marked  them  not, 
For  I  had  spoken,  unreproved, 
And,  dreamlike,  knew  that  I  was  loved. 

Sweet  wife!  when  falls  a  darker  night, 
May  some  pure  flower  of  memory, 

Hid  in  the  volume  of  the  soul, 

Bring  back  o'er  life's  tormented  sea 
As  dear  a  peace  to  you  and  me. 


Wild  Tobacco. — The  Tobacco -plant 
appears  to  be  indigenous  to  Nevada.  It 
grows  wild  in  several  parts  of  this  coun- 
ty, and  the  stalks  attain  a  height  of 
three  or  four  feet  in  some  places,  par- 
ticularly where  the  soil  has  been  dis- 
turbed. The  weed  flourishes  along  the 
railroad  embankment  near  Kemler's 
Mill,  where  it  may  now  be  seen  by 
those  who  have  any  curiosity  to  exam- 
ine it. —  Winnemucca  Silver  State. 


58 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


SOME    GOOD    ROSES. 

BY    F.     A.     MILLEE. 

So  many  varieties  of  Roses  have  been 
introduced,  that  it  is  difficult  for  an  am- 
ateur to  select  from  the  list  in  the  cata- 
logues issued  annually  by  nurserymen. 
It  is  true  that  every  year  some  excellent 
acquisitions  are  made  in  Roses;  but  the 
introduction  of  new  Roses  is  decidedly 
overdone,  nine-tenths  of  them  being  in- 
ferior to  old  and  well-known  varieties. 

The  points  to  be  taken  into  consider- 
ation in  selecting  a  collection  of  Roses 
are: 

1st.  Flowering  season.  The  most 
valuable  in  this  particular  are  the  vari- 
eties which  produce  flowers  for  the  long- 
est period  of  time.  Those  which  flower 
with  us  all  the  year  round  will  of  course 
be  considered  the  most  desirable. 

2d.  Color.  In  the  selection  of  vari- 
eties, distinctly  contrasting  and  decided 
colors  should  receive  due  consideration. 

3d.  Form,  which  is  a  most  important 
point  in  the  quality  of  a  Rose.  While 
some  varieties  produce  exquisite  buds, 
others  are  most  beautiful  when  in  full 
bloom. 

4th.  The  habit  of  the  plant  in  growth, 
as  well  as  the  disposition  of  the  flowers. 
Some  varieties  of  Roses  are  very  strong 
growers,  while  others  are  of  dwarfish 
habit.  Some  may  be  pruned  into  any 
desirable  form,  while  others  will  pro- 
duce comparatively  few  flowers  if  the 
pruning-knife  is  used  severely. 

5th.  Fragrance  in  Roses  is  also  enti- 
tled to  consideration.  However,  some 
of  the  most  beautiful  Roses  are  the  least 
fragrant. 

A  most  important  point  for  us  in 
California  is  the  prevailing  mildew,  to 
which  our  Roses  have  been  subjected 
during  the  last  five  or  six  years,  and 
which  attacks  some  varieties  more  than 
others.     The  old  and  well-known  Ge- 


ant  de  Batailles,  for  instance,  is  so 
badly  affected  that  it  is  of  rare  occur- 
rence to  see  a  good  flower.  All  sorts 
of  remedies  have  been  suggested  for 
this  evil,  but  none  have  proved  very 
satisfactory,  owing  perhaps  to  our  dry 
atmosphere.  This  subject  should  be 
taken  up  in  good  earnest  by  our  practi- 
cal florists,  as  the  fatal  disease  has  dis- 
couraged many  persons  from  planting 
Roses.  I  have  been  informed  by  some 
growers  that  where  the  Australian  Gum- 
tree  is  planted  extensively,  Roses  have 
kept  nearly  free  from  mildew;  and,  so 
far  as  my  own  observation  goes,  I  have 
at  least  noticed  that  Roses  within  a  short 
distance  from  the  Blue  Gum  seem  to 
have  kept  comparatively  free  from  mil- 
dew. This  may  have  been  due  to  other 
conditions,  yet  some  further  close  ob- 
servations may  throw  more  light  on  this 
subject. 

I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  florists 
will  do  well  to  import  a  new  stock  of 
Roses  from  the  East  for  a  few  years,  in 
order  that  clean  wood  may  at  least  be 
obtained  for  the  purpose  of  propaga- 
tion. Roses  budded  on  Manetti  stock 
seem  to  be  least  affected  by  mildew;  but 
our  people  object  to  planting  budded 
Roses,  so  that  the  only  remedy  seems 
to  lie  in  the  importation  of  new  wood 
of  the  most  desirable  varieties. 

The  varieties  of  Roses  which  I  may 
be  permitted  to  call  constant  bloomers 
are  few  in  number. 

General  Jacqueminot  (Pauline)  of  brill- 
iant crimson  color,  is  the  best  ever- 
blooming  Hybrid  Perpetual;  it  flowers 
tolerably  fair  with  us  during  the  winter 
months. 

Eliza. Sauvage  (yellow  to  white),  La 
Sylphide  (flesh  to  pink),  Safrano  (apri- 
cot to  buff),  Devoniensis  (creamy  white) 
Delphine  Giradot  (white  and  blush)  Ge- 
rard Desbois  (bright  red),  and  Heine  du 
Portugal  (deep  yellow),  are,  as  far  as  I 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOETICTJLTUEIST. 


59 


have  experienced,  the  best  winter-bloom- 
ing Tea  Roses,  and  flower  most  profuse- 
ly during-  the  summer  months. 

Agrippina  (brilliant  red),  Gels  Multi- 
flora  (blush  pink),  Daily  White  (pure 
white),  Mrs.  Bosanquet  (clear  flesh),  and 
Tancredi  (deep  red),  of  the  class  called 
China  Eoses,  are  excellent  and  constant 
bloomers,  in  winter  as  well  as  in  sum- 
mer. 

Gloire  de  Rosamene  (brilliant  velvet 
carmine),  Hermosa  (bright  pink),  and 
George  Couvier,  are  well-known  Bour- 
bon Eoses,  which  are  always  in  bloom, 
winter  months  not  excepted. 

Of  the  Noisette  (Climbing)  Eoses,  La- 
marque,  Mareclxal  Neil,  and  Celine  For- 
estier,  are  most  constant  bloomers. 

[To  be  Continued.] 


FRUIT  CULTIVATION,  AND  REPORT  ON 

THE  FRUIT  AND  VEGETABLE 

MARKET. 

BY   E.    J.    HOOPEK. 

In  the  raising  of  all  kinds  of  fruits, 
except  every  one  of  the  extremely  or 
purely  tropical,  and  there  are  some  ex- 
ceptions even  with  these,  California 
certainly  takes  the  lead  of  all  her  sister 
States  of  the  Union.  With  regard  to 
Apples  and  Peaches,  there  are  many 
states  east  of  us  which  equal  us  in  the 
plentiful  production  of  them,  but  as  to 
Pears,  Plums,  Apricots,  and  Nectarines, 
California  is  far  in  advance  of  them, 
.and  also  of  the  Southern  States.  We 
have  greatly  the  advantage  over  the 
Eastern  and  Northern  States  in  seldom 
having  any  frost  sufficiently  severe  to 
destroy  the  crops,  Apricots  and  Crapes 
being  the  chief  fruits  that  are  at  times 
cut  off  partially  by  frosts  in  some  places; 
therefore  our  Pears  are  never  injured 
by  freezing  weather  to  any  extent  worth 
mentioning.  Nor  have  we  any  blight, 
insectivorous  or  atmospheric,  to  attack 


them.  With  Pears,  as  with  all  the  oth- 
er varieties  of  fruit,  everything  else  in 
our  climate  and  soil  is  much  in  their  fa- 
vor. We  have  no  curculio  to  destroy 
our  Plums,  a  fruit  so  remarkable  for  its 
prolific  as  well  as  delicious  qualities. 
The  stalls  in  the  markets  of  San  Fran- 
cisco and  all  our  other  cities  actually 
groan  with  the  immense  abundance  of 
this  valuable  crop,  as  indeed  they  do 
with  all  the  other  riches  of  Pomona. 

All  the  more  hardy,  and,  also,  the 
most  tender-fleshed  Cherries  thrive  well 
here  in  most  situations,  as  we  seldom 
have  at  the  season  of  their  ripening 
rain  sufficient  to  cause  them  to  rot,  so 
frequent  in  the  rest  of  the  States.  Nor 
have  we  any  curculio  to  puncture  them, 
and  render  them  uneatable.  We  are 
not  aware  of  any  disease  to  which  they 
are  subject.  We  do  not  know  exactly 
the  reason,  unless  it  is  the  enormous 
quantities  of  many  other  fruits  at  the 
time  the  Cherry  is  ripe,  but  the  early 
sorts,  as  the  Morellos,  and  Early  Eich- 
mond,  are  but  little  cultivated  in  this 
State  compared  with  the  sweet  class  of 
Cherries.  Some  of  us  who  have  been 
accustomed  to  see  the  Eastern  fruits, 
especially  the  Plums  and  Cherries,  so 
deformed  by  insects,  and  so  often  rot- 
ted by  the  rains,  are  sometimes  almost 
in  ecstasies  at  the  soundness,  large  size, 
and  beautiful  complexions  of  these,  and, 
in  fact,  all  other  fruits  here. 

Our  mountains  and  valleys,  but  par- 
ticularly the  foot-hills  and  slopes  of  the 
Sierra  (these  latter  lands  being  com- 
paratively little  occupied  as  yet),  are 
admirably  adapted  to  fruit-raising,  and 
of  these  the  best  lands  for  the  culture 
of  the  vine  are  the  least  valuable  of  our 
hill-sides.  It  is  certainly  our  ojfinion 
that  in  America  there  is  not  a  more  in- 
viting field  for  industrious  horticultur- 
ists than  California.  And  besides  the 
middle  and  more  northern  districts  of 


60 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOBTICULTTJEIST. 


the  State,  there  are  the  southern  coun- 
ties, where  the  semi-tropical  fruits  are 
raised  in  great  abundance;  and  if  the 
.  markets  should  be  glutted,  as  they 
have  been  sometimes,  by  the  vast  quan- 
tity of  all  hinds  of  fruits,  there  are  the 
canning  and  Alden  drying  processes, 
that  can  be  resorted  to,  always  ready  to 
enable  persons  to  dispose  of  the  super- 
abundance for  home  or  foreign  sales. 

In  speaking  above  of  the  success  in 
Pear-raising  in  the  East  in  some  special 
localities,  we  are  led  here  to  speak  of 
the  continued  efforts,  energy,  and  suc- 
cess of  the  worthy  and  venerable  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  Pomological 
Society,  Hon.  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  of 
Dorchester,  near  Boston,  who  we  ob- 
serve has  again  sent  to  the  Horticultur- 
ist of  New  York,  as  he  has  done  to  oth- 
er horticultural  journals  for  many  years, 
notices  of  nine  new  Pears,  namely: 
Vicar  Junior,  Madame  Henri  Desportes, 
Docteur  Koch,  General  de  Bonchamp,  Dr. 
Lindley,  Maurice  Desportes,  Lucie  Au~ 
busson,  Madame  Loriol  de  Baruy. 

About  the  22d  of  last  month  (Janu- 
ary) Oranges  were  becoming  very  plen- 
tiful, and  prices  were  declining.  Solano 
and  Sonoma  Oranges  figured  prominent- 
ly in  the  market  stalls,  and  commanded 
the  highest  price.  While  Los  Angeles 
Oranges  are  badly  stained  with  the  ex- 
udation of  the  scale-bug,  those  of  the 
northern  counties  bear  no  signs  of  its 
presence,  which  gives  them  a  decided 
preference  with  buyers.  A  fair  quality 
of  Orange  is  sold  by  street  joeddlers  at 
25c.  per  dozen;  in  the  markets  the 
same  price  is  asked  for  the  poorest. 
The  range  about  the  end  of  January 
was  from  25c.  to  $1  per  dozen.  Pears 
were  getting  to  be  very  poor.  Most  of 
the  fruit  in  market  was  from  Oregon. 
Apples  were  abundant,  and  in  fine  con- 
dition. These  were  then,  and  are  still, 
the  only  fresh  fruits  we  have  in  season, 


and  the  only  ones   that  will  be  until 
Strawberries  are  in  season. 

Dried  fruits  and  nuts  are  quoted  as 
follows:  German  Prunes,  15c.  to  25c. 
per  lb. ;  California  Plums,  15c. ;  Dates, 
25c;  Butternuts,  25c;  Chestnuts,  35c; 
Almonds — California  soft -shell,  25c; 
imported  do,  35c;  Walnuts,  20c  to 
25c;  Filberts,  25c;  Cocoanuts,  10c  to 
15c  each. 

About  the  last  of  January  there  was  a 
notable  scarcity  of  good  vegetables. 
Old  crop  Potatoes  were  all  more  or 
less  affected  by  the  rot.  New  Pota- 
toes were  small,  and  far  from  being 
ripe.  An  inexorable  demand  was  the 
only  excuse  that  could  be  offered  for 
digging  them  up  in  their  then  condi- 
tion. Pinkeyes  were  quoted  at  6c  per 
lb.  The  range  of  other  varieties  of  new 
Potatoes  was  from  6c  to  8c  A  small 
quantity  of  early  Green  Peas — the  first 
of  the  season — found  its  way  into  mar- 
ket on  the  20th  of  January,  and  sold  at 
25c  per  lb.  Cabbage  Sprouts  retailed 
at  10c  per  lb. ;  Field  Lettuce  at  35c  to 
50c;  Horseradish,  20c;  Mushrooms, 
15jc  to  25c;  Asparagus,  62^  to  75c; 
Okra  (dried),  50c;  Kale,  50c  per  doz.; 
Artichokes,  $1;  Oyster  Plant,  75c  per 
dozen  bunches. 

There  was  no  particular  change  in  the 
retail  markets  since  the  20th  of  last 
month  (January).  Early  Green  Peas 
and  new  Potatoes  came  in  slowly  in 
small  quantities.  Mushrooms  were  of 
course  much  more  plentiful  after  the 
rain,  and  a  material  decline  had  taken 
place  in  the  price,  being  quoted  on  the 
29th  of  January  at  10c  to  15c  per  lb. 
Other  descriptions  of  vegetables  were 
retailing  at  the  same  prices  as  the  week 
before.  There  was  nothing  new  to  note 
in  the  fruit  market.  There  were  no  new 
descriptions  of  fruit,  nor  was  there  any 
change  in  price.  Pineapples,  Bananas, 
Oranges,  Lemons,  Limes,  Apples,  and 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


61 


Pears  were  the  only  fresh  fruits  in  sea- 
son about  the  last  of  January,  and  the 
stalls  were  largely  filled  with  dried 
fruits  and  nuts. 

The  settled  state  of  the  weather  the 
first  week  in  this  month  (February)  im- 
proved the  condition  of  the  farm,  gar- 
den, and  dairy  produce  offered  for  sale 
in  the  various  retail  markets.  The  sup- 
ply of  new  Potatoes  continues  limited, 
and  the  size  and  quality  poor,  but  the 
price  is  still  high,  ranging  from  8c.  to 
10c.  per  lb.  Puget  Sound  Kidney  Po- 
tatoes (old  crop)  are  at  present  about 
the  best  for  domestic  use  in  the  market, 
and  retail  freely  for  3^c  to  4c.  Mush- 
rooms are  very  plentiful  and  cheap,  and 
are,  furthermore,  in  demand.  The  re- 
tail price  to  day  is  15c.  per  lb.  Dried 
Chili  Peppers  are  quoted  at  50c.  per  lb. ; 
Cabbage  Sprouts  at  10c;  Horseradish 
at  20c;  Dried  Okra,  50c;  Green  Peas, 
from  Warm  Springs,  25c ,  although  they 
sold  a  few  days  ago  for  35c;  Salsify, 
75c  per  doz. 

Oranges  are  in  good  supply,  and  as 
the  season  advances  are  improving  in 
condition  and  cheapening  in  price.  So- 
lano Oranges  command  the  top  price, 
75c  per  doz. ;  Los  Angeles  and  Loreto 
Oranges  range  from  25c  to  75c  per  doz- 
en, according  to  size  and  condition.  Ex- 
cellent samples  of  sun-dried  California 
Raisins  are  offering  for  20c  per  lb;  Cal- 
ifornia (  dried )  Plums,  15c. ;  German 
Prunes,  15c  to  25c;  Dates,  25c;  pre- 
served Bananas,  25c;  California  Al- 
monds, soft  shell,  25c;  imported  do., 
35c;  Walnuts,  20c  to  25c;  Butternuts, 
25c. ;  Chestnuts,  25c  ;  Cocoanuts,  15c 
each. 

Green  Peas  in  considerable  quantities 
are  coming  regularly  forward,  and  meet 
with  ready  sale.  Small  quantities  of 
Asparagus  are  brought  in  by  the  gar- 
deners, and  sell  for  large  prices.  The 
continuance  of  the  present  warm  weath- 


er will,  however,  soon  increase  the  sup- 
ply. The  best  Apples  and  Pears  are 
scarce,  and  prices  are  advancing.  By 
the  box,  Apples  retail  at  $1.25  to  $2.50, 
delivered. 


Atonal  foirtftflfo. 


LILIES. 

We  embellish  the  present  number  of 
the  Horticulturist  with  the  pictures  of 
four  handsome  Lilies  furnished  us  by 
James  Vick,  the  eminent  florist  of  Roch- 
ester,  New  York.     These   are   Lilium 
laneifolium,  Lilium  auratum,  Lilium  Ja- 
ponicum  longiflorum,  and  Lilium    chal- 
cedonicum.     The  three  first-named  are 
from  Japan.     The  fourth  is  a  native  of 
Palestine,  and   is  supposed  to  be   the 
flower  referred  to  by  Christ  as  the  Lily 
of  the   field  arrayed  in  glory  far  ex- 
ceeding even  the  glory  of  Israel's  most 
voluptuous  monarch.     With  regard  to 
Japan  Lilies,  the  elegance  of  these  com- 
paratively new  additions  to  our  collec- 
tions is  of  such  high  and  chaste  order  as 
to  meet  the  taste  and  admiration  of  ev- 
ery beholder.     No  wonder,  then,  they 
have  so  rapidly  extended;  for  they  are 
certainly  desired,  if  not  present,  in  ev- 
ery garden.     Added  to  their  universally 
admitted  attractions  of  stately  grand- 
eur and  brilliant  coloring,  may  be  men- 
tioned their  great  docility,   generally, 
of  cultivation;  being,  in  fact,  managea- 
ble by  the  merest  tyro,  without  trouble 
or  other   means  than   thoroughly  good 
soil.     They  are  grown  in  various  ways: 
a  portion  are   potted  and  brought   for- 
ward in  a  gentle  heat,  to  afford  an  early 
bloom  for  the  conservatory;  others  are 
also   placed  in   pots,   but   allowed    to 
grow  in  a  natural  manner,  so  as  to  bloom 
after  the  first  named;  while  a  consider- 
able number  are  planted  into  the  beds 
of  the  flower-garden,  as  permanent  or- 


62 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


naroents  to  that  part  of  the  charge. 
Their  culture,  therefore,  is  attainable 
by  anyone,  let  his  conveniences  be 
what  they  may. 

To  grow  them  in  pots  for  the  green- 
house is  the  most  usual  practice,  where 
their  beauty  is  unquestionably  height- 
ened, and  preserved  for  a  longer  time 
than  can  be  expected  with  those  ex- 
posed to  the  vicissitudes  of  even  Cali- 
fornia seasons,  or  of  others  influenced 
by  a  foreign  regimen  in  the  early  stages 
of  their  growth.  Large  pots  are  essen- 
tial to  a  vigorous  growth;  for  a  full- 
grown  bulb,  capable  of  flowering,  the 
pot  should  be  a  foot  or  fourteen  inches 
in  diameter,  and,  if  there  are  two  or 
three  bulbs  together,  of  course  a  still 
greater  size  will  be  necessary,  without 
being  at  all  disproportionate;  for  the 
plants  attain  a  height-  of  from  four  to 
five  feet,  and  should  there  be  three  or 
four  stems,  the  foot-stalks  of  the  flow- 
ers will  extend  in  a  lateral  direction 
and  form  a  large  head.  The  soil  most 
suited  to  them  is  a  mixture  of  turfy 
loam  and  peaty  earth,  with  a  propor- 
tion of  about  a  third  of  thoroughly  rot- 
ten manure.  This  compost  should  be 
used  in  as  rough  a  state  as  possible, 
with  a  proper  regard  to  its  being  well 
mixed,  leaving  all  the  roots,  sticks,  and 
similar  matters  in  it,  and  a  good  drain- 
age being  placed  in  the  bottom  of  the 
pot.  The  soil  must  be  pressed  firmly 
round  the  bulb,  leaving  its  crown  about 
two  inches  below  the  surface.  A  liberal 
supply  of  water  should  be  given  daily 
while  the  plants  are  growing,  and  an 
occasional  soaking  of  liquid  manure 
will  add  to  the  general  vigor.  At  the 
ripening  of  the  season's  growth  a  grad- 
ual reduction  of  the  supply  of  water 
should  take  place,  until,  by  the  end  of 
autumn,  the  soil  in  the  pots  is  left  dry, 
and  the  roots  in  a  dormant  and  fit  state 
to  pass  through  our  short  season  of  rest. 


Those  which  are  grown  entirely  out  of 
doors — and  the  whole  of  them  are  per- 
fectly hardy — should  be  planted  in  soil 
similar  to  that  recommended  for  pot- 
ting, and  must  have  attention  to  stak- 
ing and  watering  in  dry  weather,  though 
the  trouble  they  occasion  is  scarcely 
worth  mention,  until  the  season  of  com- 
paratively small  growth  here :  and  a  lay- 
er of  fresh  leaves  or  other  litter  may  be 


No.  1.  No.  2. 

thrown  over  the  beds  to  preserve  an 
equal  temperature,  lest  they  make  too 
early  a  growth  and  then  suffer  from  ad- 
verse weather. 

Frequent  removals  of  them  are  injur- 
ious, by  destroying  the  roots.  All  Lil- 
ies, but  especially  the  California,  re- 
quire quite  deep  planting.  The  Japan 
Lilies  are  very  fragrant. 


Lilium  chalcedonicum,  or  Scarlet  Mar- 
tagon,  grows  wild  in  every  country 
from  Galilee  to  Greece.  But  whether 
the  blue  Lily  Ixiolirion  montanum,  or 
the  L.  chalcedonicum  was  the  true  Lily 
of  the  field,  according  to  Scripture?  Dr. 
Lindley,  on  the  authority  of  Sir  John 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


63 


Bowriug,  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  Scarlet  Martagon  was  the  Lily  of 
the  field,  because  that  traveler  happen- 
ed to  pass  through  the  country  when 
the  Martagon  was  in  bloom.  But  Sir 
E.  Smith,  the  traveler,  was  of  the  opin- 
ion, with  the  traditional  idea  of  some 
shepherds,  that  the  recldish-blue  and 
azure  Lily — lxiolirion  montanum,  the 
only  Lily  in  all  Syria,  was  the  one  re- 
ferred to  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
Some  have  thought  the  L.  chalcedoni- 
cum,  like  the  Potato,  may  have  overrun 
the  countries  of  the  old  world,  through 
being  so  gay,  as  the  Potato  has  for  its 
usefulness.  It  may  have  been  a  stran- 
ger in  G-alilee  in  the  time  of  Christ.  Aft- 
er all,  probably,  no  particular  Lily  was 
meant  at  all.  The  lxiolirion  montanum, 
the  Blue  Bells  of  the  Holy  Land,  Mr. 
Beaton  the  florist  says,  once  and  once 
only  flowered  in  England:  he  had  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  it  in  bloom,  about 
the  middle  of  May.  It  is  a  slender- 
growing  plant,  very  much  like  the 
growth  of  a  long-leafed  Ixia. 

P.  Hanson,  Esq.  of  Brooklyn,  L.  I., 
has  one  of  the  largest  collections  of  Lil- 
ies in  the  United  States.  His  collec- 
tion numbers  over  150  sorts,  if  the  sub- 
varieties  are  included. 

In  addition  to  the  very  fine  represen- 
tation of  the  bloom  of  four  Lilies  in  the 
frontispiece  of  the  present  issue  of 
the  Horticulturist,  we  have  given  space 
to  miniature  illustrations  of  the  plant 
and  flower  of  each  of  them,  so  that 
they  may  be  the  more  easily  recognized; 
the  numbers  here  given  corresponding 
with  those  placed  underneath  each  fig- 
ure in  the  large  plate,  as  follows:  1,  Li- 
lium  chalcedonicum;  2,  L.  Japonica  lon- 
gifiorum;  3,  L.  auraium;  4,  L.  lancifo- 
lium. 

"We  again  take  this  opportunity  to 
acknowledge  an  indebtedness  to  James 
Yick,   the  great   seedsman  of  Boches- 


ter,  N.  Y.,  for  his  kindness  in  furnish- 
ing us  these  and  many  other  plates  for 
illustration  and  description. 


SEA -LIONS,    OR   SEALS,   AT  WOOD- 
WARD'S   GARDENS. 

In  addition  to  our  cuts  of  flowers  this 
month,  we  present  to  our  readers  four 
chiefly  outline  but  handsome  engrav- 
ings of  sea-lions  in  their  varied  natural 
attitudes;  animals  for  so  long  a  time 
such  attractive  objects  in  that  most 
popular  place  of  public  resort,  Wood- 
ward's Gardens.  These  life-like  pict- 
ures of  seals  are  taken  from  that  most 
valuable  and  interesting  work,  Marine 
Mammals,  by  Capt.  Charles  M.  Scam- 
mon.  The  sea-lion  is  known  among 
naturalists  as  belonging  to  the  -sub- 
family Trichophocince ,  of  which  there  are 
three  g'enera  and  several  varieties  dis- 
tributed in  various  parts  of  the  world. 
Two  species  at  least  inhabit  the  coast 
of  California;  at  any  rate,  quite  as  far 
south  as  the  Farallones.  The  largest 
specimen  found  disporting  in  the  pond 
and  often  climbing  the  large  central 
rock,  at  the  Gardens,  must  be  twelve 
feet  in  length,  and  correspondingly  gi- 
gantic in  form.  He  is  indeed  a  noble 
fellow,  and  a  great  favorite  with  the 
public.  These  wonderful  animals  are 
found  to  be  rather  migratory  in  their 
habits,  changing  from  the  cold  lati- 
tudes to  the  tropics;  as  arrows  or  spear- 
heads, such  as  are  used  by  the  northern 
sea-coast  natives,  have  been  found  in 
the  bodies  of  those  killed  upon  the 
southern  coast  of  this  State. 

Our  zincographic  illustrations  exhib- 
it well  the  facial  expression  of  some  of 
these  creatures  when  sleeping,  waking, 
and  when  in  a  state  of  excitement, 
which  is  manifested  by  howling  or  roar- 
ing. The  young  pups,  or  whelps,  are 
of  a  slate  or  black  color,  and  the  year- 


64 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


lings  of  a  chestnut  brown.  Great  num- 
bers of  seals  are  to  be  found  almost  at 
any  time  during  a  clear  warm  day,  up- 
on the  rocks  adjacent  to  the  sea  (some- 
times also  in  our  bay),  where  they  keep 
up  a  plaintive  howling,  croak  hoarsely, 
or  send  forth  sounds  like  the  bleating 
of  sheep  or  the  barking  of  dogs.  They 
show  the  fondest  regard  for  their  young 
calves,  over  which  they  keep  the  clos- 
est watch.  Some  of  the  older  ones 
appear,  at  first,  to  be  very  brave,  and 
often,  when  teased,  make  toward  you 
with  open  mouths,  displaying  at  the 
same  time  their  tusks.  But  we  have 
discovered  them  to  be,  as  a  general 
thing,  great  cowards.  The  simple  wave 
of  your  hand  will  often  make  them  '  'take 
water."  Still,  should  they  be  so  press- 
ed as  to  render  a  fight  inevitable,  they 
would,  in  our  opinion,  prove  very  ugly 
customers  to  handle.  At  all  events 
they  fight  almost  like  tigers  among 
themselves.  They  live  upon  fish,  mol- 
lusks,  crustaceans,  and  sea- fowls. 
When  in  pursuit  of  the  last,  chiefly  the 
penguin,  Capt.  Scammon  states  that 
the  seal  "  dives  deeply  under  the  water, 
and  swims  some  distance  from  where 
it  disappeared;  then  rising  cautiously, 
it  exposes  the  tip  of  its  nose  above  the 
surface,  at  the  same  time  giving  it  a  ro- 
tary motion,  like  that  of  a  water-bug  at 
play.  The  unwary  bird  on  the  wing, 
seeing  the  object  near  by,  alights  to 
catch  it,  while  the  sea-lion,  at  the  same 
moment,  settles  beneath  the  waves,  and 
at  one  bound,  with  extended  jaws, 
seizes  its  screaming  prey,  and  instantly 
devours  it." 


Don't  fail  to  read  the  advertisement  of 
T.  C.  Maxwell  &  Brothers,  Geneva,  N. 
Y.  They  are  reliable  men,  and  have  a 
large  stock  of  the  best  of  Trees,  Plants, 
etc.  It  will  pay  you  to  correspond  with 
them. 


CATALOGUES  RECEIVED. 

From  Ellwanger  &  Barry,  Mount 
Hope  Nurseries,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  No. 
1:  "  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  Fruits, 
21st  edition,"  from  the  nursery  estab- 
lished as  early  as  1840.  Some  new 
Pears  which  promise  to  be  of  value 
are  placed  in  a  separate  list  under  the 
head  of  "Select  New  Varieties."  Mr. 
Rivers'  "  New  Seedling  Peaches,"  which 
have  attracted  so  much  notice  in  Eu- 
rope, are  placed  in  a  separate  list.  There 
is  also  a  more  extended  list  of  varieties 
of  the  Fig.  Every  new  fruit  is  tested 
on  their  specimen  ground;  and  there  is 
this  to  be  said  of  California,  that  if  any 
kind  of  fruit  will  succeed  anywhere,  it 
is  most  likely  to  do  so  here.  Messrs. 
E.  &  B.  cultivate  in  every  department 
over  600  acres  of  ground. 

Also,  from  Ellwanger  &  Barry,  No.  2: 
"Descriptive  Catalogue  of  Ornamen- 
tal Trees,  Shrubs,  Roses,  Flowering 
Plants,  etc."  In  this  Catalogue  are 
handsome  engravings  and  descriptions 
of  weeping  and  drooping  trees,  purple- 
leaved,  cut -leaved,  and  variegated- 
leaved  trees.  Much  attention  is  now 
given  in  Europe,  as  well  as  in  our  own 
country,  to  these  kinds  of  very  orna- 
mental trees.  Messrs.  E.  &B.  are,  of 
course,  obtaining  all  the  new  varieties 
of  every  family  of  flowers,  hardy  peren- 
nial border-plants,  and  evergreens. 

Also,  from  the  same  proprietors,  No. 
4:  "Spring  of  1875.  Wholesale  Cata- 
logue of  Fruit  -  trees,  Small  Fruits, 
Ornamental  Trees,  Climbing  Shrubs, 
Hedge  Plants,  Tree  Pseonies,  Phloxes, 
Dahlias,  Hardy  Border  Plants,  Roses, 
Bulbous  Roots,  etc.,  etc." 

From  Peter  Henderson  &  Co. :  "  Seed 
Catalogue  for  1875,"  with  splendid  col- 
ored engravings  of  a  group  of  Dianthus 
or  Pinks,  and  a  colored  engraving  of 
Henderson's   Summer    Cabbage.     This 


C./ty  Srt**r%.rr\on ,0)  %Z 


Appearance  of  a  Male  Sea -Lion  when  Roaring. 


From  Ewott 

Female  Sea -Lions  of  St.  Paul's  Island. 


SEA- LIONS,  OR  SEALS,  AT  WOODWARD'S  GARDENS. 
[See  page  63.] 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


65 


handsome  catalogue  contains  many  en- 
gravings of  the  choicest  flowers  and 
vegetables. 

Also,  Peter  Henderson's  No.  27: 
"Spring  Catalogue  of  New,  Rare,  and 
Beautiful  Plants  for  1875."  This  fine 
nursery  was  established  in  1848.  The 
catalogue  contains  a  most  beautiful  col- 
ored engraving  of  the  rarest  and  choi- 
cest Verbenas,  with  splendid  wood-cuts 
of  many  of  our  most  highly  prized  flow- 
ers. 

From  J.  M.  Thorburn  &Co.:  "An- 
nual Descriptive  Catalogue  for  1875,  of 
Flower  Seeds,"  with  practical  directions 
for  their  culture  and  treatment;  also,  a 
choice  list  of  beautiful  French  Hybrid 
Gladiolus,  and  other  spring  bulbous 
roots. 

Also,  from  the  same  nursery  and  es- 
tablishment, for  1875 :  '  'Annual  Descrip- 
tive Catalogue  of  Vegetable  and  Agri- 
cultural Seeds,  Garden,  Field,  Fruit  and 
other  Seeds,"  embracing  every  stand- 
ard and  improved  variety. 

From  J.  B.  Root,  Rockford,  111. :  a 
neat  "Garden  Manual  and  Seed  Cata- 
logue for  1875,"  containing  directions 
for  many  operations  in  the  flower  and 
vegetable  garden,  such  as  hot-beds, 
soil,  tools,  Sweet  Potato  culture,  etc. 

From  A.  Bryant,  Jun. :  "Catalogue 
of  his  Nurseries,  at  Princeton,  111.,  for 
1874-5." 

TJie  Monthly  Report  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  for  November  and 
December,  1874,  filled  with  valuable  sta- 
tistics and  correspondence  relating  to 
the  crops  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  Entomological  Record,  Chemi- 
cal Memoranda,  Botanical  Notes,  Mi- 
croscopic Observation,  etc. 


The  new  conservatory  in  Central  Park, 
New  York,,  is  to  be  230  feet  long  and  50 
feet  wide. 

Vol.  V.— 7. 


Victoria  Regta. — E.  S.,  San  Francis- 
co, Col.,  says:  "The  Victoria  regia  has 
been  grown  successfully  during  the 
past  fifteen  years  at  the  Insane  Asylum, 
Nashville,  Tennessee.  Mr.  Blair,  late 
gardener  at  the  above  institution,  in- 
forms me  that  the  plants  were  doing 
finely  when  he  saw  them  in  September 
last;  but  whether  seed  has,  or  will  ri- 
pen this  year,  can  only  be  ascertained 
by  applying  either  to  the  superintend- 
ent or  the  present  gardener." 

The  above  notice  in  the  Gardener's 
Monthly  reminds  us  that  Mr.  Miller,  of 
Miller  &  Sievers'  nursery  of  this  city,  in- 
forms us  that  he  intends  if  possible  to 
exhibit  the  Victoria  regia  Lily  at  our 
coming  Mechanics5  Institute  Exhibi- 
tion.— Editor. 


The  Camellia  Blooming  Out-Doors  in 
this  City.  —  Mr.  J.  Henry  Applegate, 
Jr.,  has  handed  to  us  a  beautiful  and 
perfect  white  Camellia,  from  a  plant 
which  has  bloomed  and  is  still  bloom- 
ing finely  in  the  open  air  at  his  resi- 
dence in  this  city.  %This  plant  has  been 
exposed  all  winter  to  the  north  winds, 
having  been  but  slightly  sheltered-. 


NEW  AND  BARE  PLANTS. 

Adiantum  Farleyense. — We  had 

the  pleasure  of  seeing  in  the  green- 
house of  Messrs.  Miller  &  Sievers,  at 
their  floral  establishment,  on  Chestnut 
Street,  a  variety  of  Adiantum,  the  Maid- 
en-hair Fern  (Adiantum  Farleyense),  a 
very  exquisite  and  rare  species.  This 
Fern  is  exceedingly  graceful  and  love- 
ly— a  native  of  Jamaica.  Its  leaves  are 
large  and  perfectly  and  beautifully 
fringed,  and  their  color  vividly  green. 
The  Maiden-hair  Ferns  may  be  grown 
without  Fern  or  Wardian  case,  in  one's 
parlor. 


66 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOBTICIJLTTJBIST. 


CALIFOENIA  RAISINS. 

Samples  of  raisins  made  at  Los  Ange- 
les, from  the  "White  Muscat  and  the  Los 
Angeles  Grape,  have  been  received  here. 
The  raisins  of  the  former  variety  are 
large,  handsome,  and  of  excellent  fla- 
vor; those  of  the  latter  are  small,  but 
good  in  flavor  and  well  adapted  to  cook- 
ing puqDOses.  Both  qualities  find  a 
ready  sale  for  the  markets  of  Arizona, 
Cerro  Gordo,  and  Panamint.  One  pur- 
chaser for  Arizona  took  three  tons  Of 
the  smaller  kind,  at  fifteen  cents  per 
pound.  The  Los  Angeles  Grape  is  lit- 
tle inferior  in  size  to  the  Muscat;  but 
containing  less  pulp,  it  loses  more  in 
drying.  The  Muscat  is  preferred  for 
raisins  to  any  other  variety  now  grown 
in  the  State;  nor  is  there  any  danger 
that  it  will  ever  be  superseded.  In- 
quiries are  made  for  Huasco  cuttings, 
and  if  they  could  be  got,  many  thousand 
of  them,  would  be  set  out  immediately; 
but  it  is  uncertain  when  they  can  be  ob- 
tained, and  their  value  for  cultivation 
in  California  is  yet  to  be  demonstrated. 
We  do  not  even  know  whether  the  Hu- 
asco Grape  would  be  a  favorite  for  table 
use  or  wine;  but  no  such  doubt  attach- 
es to  the  "White  Muscat,  of  which  a 
large  number  will  be  set  out  this  win- 
ter in  the  southern  part  of  the  State, 
and  much  grafting  will  be  done  with  it 
on  the  Mission  stock.  The  establish- 
ment of  the  Alden  drying-house  in  Los 
Angeles  has  convinced  the  vineyardists 
there  that  raisins  are  to  take  a  promi- 
nent place  among  the  productions  of 
their  region,  and  that  the  time  has 
come  for  undertaking  the  business  with 
a  profit. 

The  experience  of  Tolo  in  raisins  is 
encouraging.  G.  G.  Briggs,  who  lost 
400  tons  of  Grapes  when  nearly  dry,  by 
the  rain,  has  set  out  160  acres  of  Mus- 
cat, ten  feet  apart  each  way,  in  addi- 


tion to  40  acres  which  he  had  before. 
His  vines  yielded  60  pounds  each  on  an 
average,  and  some  of  them  150  pounds. 
A  letter  in  the  Bural  Press  quotes  as  fol- 
lows from  some  remarks  made  by  B.  B. 
Blowers,  who  makes  raisins  from  26 
acres  of  vines  near  "Woodland: 

' '  I  irrigate  my  vineyard  by  covering 
the  ground  with  water  when  the  Mus- 
cats are  about  the  size  of  small  Peas.  If 
irrigated  earlier  they  drop  their  fruit;  if 
later  the  ground  remains  too  wet  at  time 
of  ripening,  and  causes  mildew.  Two 
years  ago  I  did  not  irrigate  all  the  vine- 
yard. On  some  portions  that  I  did  not 
irrigate  I  raised  20  pounds  of  first  crop 
and  50  pounds  of  second  crop  per  vine. 
But  where  I  irrigated  the  yield  was  still 
larger;  so  much  so  that  I  determined 
always  to  irrigate  in  future.  I  can  raise 
■on  larger  vines  50  pounds  average  at  the 
two  crops;  this  will  make  17  pounds  of 
raisins,  which,  at  present  prices,  will 
sell  for  $2 — this  much  for  raisins  from 
each  vine.  I  set  500  vines  per  acre, 
which  gives  $1,000  per  acre  for  Muscat 
raisins.  .  .  It  costs  one  day's  labor 
for  every  250  pounds  of  fresh  Grapes 
that  we  pack  in  boxes  for  the  San  Fran- 
cisco market;  but  when  picking  for  rais- 
ins we  do  much  more  than  this.  Each 
hand  will  pick  and  lay  out  for  drying 
800  pounds  per  day." 

The  Muscat  vine  is,  we  believe,  alone 
in  producing  a  second  crop  in  this  State, 
but  in  most  counties  the  second  crop 
Grapes  do  not  ripen,  and  they  are 
sometimes  plucked  off.  — Alia. 


An  English  writer  gives  a  plan  for 
protecting  all  kinds  of  fruit  from  birds. 
It  is  simply  crossing  threads  from  twig 
to  twig  in  various  directions,  so  that 
the  birds  will  strike  against  them,  when 
seeking  the  fruit.  He  says  it  never 
fails  to  scare  them  away. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


67 


Editorial  (Gleanings. 


Almond  Culture  in  Santa  Bab  bar  a.. — 
Mr.  Olmsted,  of  Carpenteria,  has  fin- 
ished picking  his  crop  of  Almonds.  He 
will  have  from  his  orchard  this  season 
over  five  tons  of  the  Languedoc  or  Soft- 
shell  Almonds.  Mr.  Olmsted's  orchard 
is  only  four  years  old,  and,  of  course, 
is  not  yet  in  full  bearing.  His  trees 
bore  a  few  nuts  when  two  years  old. 
The  third  year  the  average  yield  to  the 
tree  was  about  five  pounds.  Two  rows 
in  the  orchard,  covering  ground  equiv- 
alent to  two  acres,  that  received  great 
care  in  planting,  and  special  culture, 
produced  2,000  pounds  of  dried  Al- 
monds. This  yield,  at  the  wholesale 
San  Francisco  market  price  for  the 
Soft-shell  Almond,  will  give  Mr.  Olm- 
sted about  $230  per  acre,  after  paying 
all  expenses  of  the  year's  culture,  gath- 
ering, sacking,  and  marketing.  One 
reason  of  Mr.  Olmsted's  success  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  Almond  is  the  fact 
that  he  keeps  the  ground  clear,  culti- 
vating nothing  between  the  trees,  nor 
allowing  weeds  to  grow  up  to  rob  them. 
Thorough  cultivation  is  required  for 
the  Almond,  and  the  trees  should  be  at 
least  twenty  feet  apart  each  way. — San- 
ta Barbara  Index. 


Camphor  in  Formosa. — As  the  gigan- 
tic Laurels  from  which  the  camphor  is 
obtained  are  found  only  on  the  mount- 
ains in  the  possession  of  the  aborigi- 
nes, the  acquisition  of  a  constant  sup- 
ply is  somewhat  difficult.  Only  from 
those  tribes  which  are  on  friendly  terms 
with  the  Chinese  can  leave  be  obtained 
to  cut  down  the  trees.  "With  such,  a 
present  given  to  the  chief  gains,  as  a 
rule,  the  required  permission.  .  The 
Chinese  woodman  then  makes  a  choice 
of   the  trees  which  appear  to  be  well 


supplied  with  sap,  and,  having  felled 
them,  he  keeps  the  best  parts  for  tim- 
ber, and  reserves  the  remainder  for  the 
iron  boiling-pots,  by  means  of  which  is 
evolved  the  sublimated  vapor  which 
yields  the  camphor.  In  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Tamsuy  alone  800,000  pounds 
of  this  valuable  commodity  are  produ- 
ced annually.  Petroleum  also  adds  to 
the  riches  of  the  island,  which,  both 
from  its  natural  and  artificial  products, 
is  well  worthy  a  struggle  on  the  part  of 
the  Japanese  to  obtain,  and  on  the  part 
of  China  to  defend. — Cornhill  Magazine. 


Growth  Force  est  Plants.  A  corre- 
spondent of  the  Country  Gentleman  has 
the  following  interesting  note  on  growth 
force  in  plants: 

' '  Those  who  have  never  given  the 
matter  much  attention,  will  be  sur- 
prised at  the  force  which  growing  plants 
exert.  At  a  recent  meeting  at  the  Acad- 
emy of  Natural  Sciences  in  Philadel- 
phia, Mr.  Thomas  Meehan  exhibited  a 
root  of  the  common  Peeony  with  a  sto- 
lon of  common  couch-grass  (Triticum 
repens)  growing  through  it  from  one 
side  to  the  other.  He  also  stated  that 
he  had  found  Potatoes  with  the  stolons 
of  grass  growing  through  them  in  the 
same  manner.  A  short  time  ago,  while 
inspecting  a  fine  asphaltic  drive,  I  no- 
ticed that  within  a  diameter  of  four  or 
five  feet  there  were  several  spots  where 
repairs  had  recently  been  made,  and  on 
inquiry  as  to  the  cause,  was  informed 
that  after  the  drive  became  hard  enough 
to  use,  these  spots  were  observed  to  rise 
up,  and  continued  to  do  so  until  the 
raised  part  burst  open.  On  making  re- 
pairs it  was  found  that  the  trouble  was 
caused  by  a.  few  roots  of  the  common 
plantain,  which  had  not  been  removed 
when  the  asphalt  was  laid  down.  As 
the  pavement    was  hard,   and    several 


68 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICULTUBIST. 


inches  thick,  the  steady  force  of  growth 
must  have  been  very  great.  Near  by, 
a  large  slate  slab,  four  feet  by  six,  was 
observed  to  rise  steadily  at  one  end  with- 
out any  corresponding  depression  at  the 
other.  Examination  showed  a  root  of 
plantain  growing  under  the  raised  end, 
and  supporting  the  whole  weight  of  the 
stone." 

The  Sunflower  as  a  Preventive  of 
Fevers.  — We  continue  to  see  favorable 
mention  made  of  the  virtues  of  Sun- 
flowers as  preventives  of  bilious  fever, 
chills  and  fever,  etc.  A  correspondent 
of  the  Soil  of  the  South,  writing  from  a 
place  in  Alabama  which  he  says  was  pe- 
culiarly subject  to  fevers,  gives  the  re- 
sults of  his  experience  in  the  premises, 
and  in  not  a  single  instance  where  he 
planted  Sunflowers  around  his  negro 
cabins,  did  their  inmates  suffer  from 
fevers,  while  his  wife,  two  children,  and 
two  house-servants,  all  had  fevers,  he 
not  having  planted  any  of  the  Sunflow- 
ers around  his  own  dwelling,  which,  in 
his  opinion,  accounted  for  the  difference 
in  the  results.  We  trust  that  next 
spring  New  Orleans  may  be  surround- 
ed by  a  cordon  of  Sunflowers,  that  they 
may  be  scattered  through  every  garden 
and  cover  every  vacant  lot  in  the  city. 
Who  knows  but  they  may  prevent  yel- 
low fever  also  ?  The  correspondent  of 
the  Soil  of  the  South  says: 

"My  opinion  is,  that  the  Sunflower 
in  its  rank  growth  absorbs  the  very  ele- 
ments in  the  atmosphere  that  produce 
fever,  or  chills  and  fever,  and  what  is 
the  life  of  the  Sunflower  is  highly  ob- 
noxious to  the  health  of  the  human  fam- 
ily; nor  do  I  believe  that  a  man  could 
ever  have  a  chill  who  would  sleep  in  a 
bed  of  rank  Sunflowers.  This,  too, 
seems  to  be  no  new  theory,  as  Lieut. 
Maury  states  that  his  gardener — a 
Frenchman — informed  him  that  their 


sanitary  influence  had  been  long  known 
in  France." 

Bees  and  Honey  in  Los  Angeles. — A. 
J.  Davidson,  a  successful  apiarist  of 
this  county,  writes  as  follows:  "The 
finest  grade  of  honey  is  gathered  from 
elevated  lands  where  the  vegetation 
seems  peculiarly  adapted  to  this  indus- 
try. The  brush  lands  are  unavailable 
for  the  pasturage  of  sheep,  and  those 
animals  are  a  great  enemy  in  the  de- 
struction of  flowers  yielding  honey. 
Hives  of  various  sizes  are  in  use,  and 
from  the  fact  that  many  persons  re- 
gard their  hives  as  most  men  do  their 
wives — i.  e. ,  that  each  for  himself  has 
the  best — we  withhold  our  opinion.  The 
yield  of  honey  in  1874  for  this  county, 
taken  from  reports  only  relatively  cor- 
rect, is  as  follows,  namely:  178,000 
pounds  strained  honey,  92,000  pounds 
extracted  honey,  34,000  pounds  comb 
honey.  The  average  production  of  dif- 
ferent apiaries  ranges  from  50  to  240 
pounds  per  swarm,  the  estimate  being 
made  from  the  parent  stock  of  last 
spring.  Comparatively  few  who  are 
engaged  in  this  industry  have  tried  to 
improve  their  breed,  either  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Italian  or  breeding  from 
the  most  productive  common  stock.  The 
main  aim  of  most  has  been  to  accumu- 
late in  numbers  without  regard  to  ex- 
cellence. The  advantage  we  possess  in 
not  being  compelled  to  "winter  bees," 
and_the  peculiar  honey-yielding  plants 
which  abound  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
mountains,  have  caused  this  to  become 
a  leading  industry  of  this  county." 


Cultivating  Truffles  in  JFrance. — 
Large  tracts  of  land  in  the  south  of 
France,  not  hitherto  cultivated,  are  be- 
ing planted  with  the  kind  of  Oak-trees 
beneath   which    truffles   are   generally 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


69 


found,  and  it  is  expected  that  each  acre 
of  this  land,  lately  sold  as  low  as  $25, 
will  yield  a  crop  of  truffles  worth  $100 
per  year.  The  experiment  has  already 
been  tried  in  the  department  of  the  Vau- 
cluse,  and  in  the  course  of  the  last  twen- 
ty years,  150,000  acres  which  were  ab- 
solutely unproductive  have  been  plant- 
ed, and  are  yielding  a  rich  return.  The 
cost  of  plantation,  which  is  borne  by  the 
commune,  does  not  exceed  twenty  francs 
per  acre  on  hilly  ground,  and  though 
rather  greater  in  the  lowlands,  the  crops 
are  proportionately  heavier.  Acorns 
only  are  planted  on  the  hilly  ground, 
but  saplings  of  five  or  six  years'  growth, 
placed  in  rows  about  forty  feet  apart, 
are  found  to  answer  best  i  n  the  low- 
lands. The  ground  between  each  row 
of  trees  is  planted  with  vines,  which, 
after  five  or  six  years,  repay  the  cost  of 
the  plantation  and  its  culture. 


Traveling  on  Foot. — Nothing  to  me 
is  more  pleasing  than  traveling  on  foot. 
We  are  free  and  joyous.  No  breaking 
down  of  wheels,  no  contingencies  at- 
tendant on  carriages.  "We  set  out;  stop 
when  it  suits  us;  breakfast  at  a  farm 
or  under  a  tree;  walk  on,  and  dream 
while  walking,  for  traveling  cradles  rev- 
erie, reverie  veils  fatigue,  and  the  beau- 
ty of  the  scenery  hides  the  length  of 
the  road.  We  are  not  traveling — we 
wander.  Then  we  stop  under  the  shade 
of  a  tree,  by  the  side  of  a  little  rivulet, 
whose  rippling  waters  harmonize  with 
the  songs  of  the  birds  that  load  the 
branches  over  our  heads.  I  saw  with 
compassion  a  diligence  pass  before  me, 
enveloped  in  dust,  and  containing  tir- 
ed, screwed-up,  and  fatigued  passen- 
gers. Strange  that  those  poor  creat- 
ures, who  are  often  persons  of  mind, 
should  willingly  consent  to  be  shut  up 
in  a  place  where  the  harmony  of  the 


country  sounds  only  in  noise,  the  sun 
appears  to  them  in  clouds,  and  the 
roads  in  whirlwinds  of  dust.  They 
are  not  aware  of  the  flowers  that  are 
found  in  thickets,  of  the  pearls  that 
are  picked  up  among  pebbles,  of  the 
Houris  that  the  fertile  imagination  dis- 
covers in  landscapes — musa  pedestris. 
Everything  comes  to  the  foot-passen- 
ger. Adventures  are  ever  passing  be- 
fore his  eyes. —  Victor  Hugo. 


Another  New  Fruit  -  dryer  .  —  We 
have  just  been  shown  by  J.  B.  Howed 
the  model  of  a  new-fashioned  dry- 
house  for  drying  fruit,  designed  by  J. 
Lewelling,  of  St.  Helena,  and  on  which 
a  caveat  has  already  been  filed.  The 
arrangement  consists  of  a  furnace  over 
which  are  moving  trays  of  wire-screen 
for  drying  fruits  in  various  positions 
until  thoroughly  prepared.  The  heat 
is  generated  in  a  furnace;  passing 
thence  through  a  pipe  into  a  large 
drum,  and  thence  again  through  two 
other  pipes  to  the  chimney.  The 
arrangement  of  the  fruit  is  such  that  it 
receives  the  heat  of  the  sun,  as  well  as 
the  fire,  the  trays  being  covered  with 
glass.  The  trays  are  to  be  three  feet 
square  each,  and  are  thirty-six  in  num- 
ber, eighteen  on  a  side,  occupying  a 
sliding  space  of  sixty  feet  in  length. 
Mr.  L.  has  already  a  working  model 
in  operation,  from  which  he  dried  much 
fruit  this  past  season,  and  found  it  very 
successful — so  much  so  that  he  was  en- 
couraged to  have  two  more  furnaces 
put  up  after  the  first  one. — Napa  Begis- 
ter.  

The  Snowball.  —  This  old-fashioned 
flower  is  rarely  seen  in  modern  grounds, 
though  in  old  ones  it  is  usually  among 
the  most  prized  treasures,  as  it  deserves 
to   be.     There   are  few   objects    more 


70 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUBIST. 


striking  than  a  large  bush  of  Snowballs 
in  flower.  It  may  be  that  the  scarcity 
is  owing  to  the  difficulty  often  found  in 
striking  cuttings.  Sometimes  they 
grow,  and  sometimes  not,  just  as  they 
seem  to  take  a  notion  to.  We  old  folks 
used  to  increase  them  by  taking  them 
apart.  In  old  plants  they  can  be  often 
so  divided  as  to  make  several  dozens. 
A  certain  and  sure  way,  however,  to 
raise  Snowballs  is  to  lay  down  some  of 
the  branches.  If  these  are  given  a  gen- 
tle twist  so  as  to  partly  split  the  wood 
at  the  place  where  the  branch  is  put  un- 
der the  ground,  roots  will  come  out  of 
the  split  part,  and  in  a  year  the  rooted 
portion  can  be  taken  off  as  an  independ- 
ent plant. 

The  Snowball  can  not  be  raised  from 
seeds,  because  it  never  produces  any. 
It  is  in  facta  male  form  of  the  Guelder- 
rose  Viburnum.  The  female  form  has 
very  insignificant  flowers.  In  this  the 
male  Guelder-rose  or  Snowball  follows 
the  same  law  that  birds  follow,  in 
which  the  male  has  generally  the  most 
showy  and  the  most  striking  colors. 

Of  late  years  a  new  Snowball  has  been 
introduced  from  Japan,  known  in  cata- 
logues as  the  Japan  Snowball —  Vibur- 
num plicatum — but  we  believe  it  is  still 
scarce.  This  also  is  a  male  form  of 
some  Japan  thing,  but  the  balls  are 
larger  and  of  a  purer  white  than  the 
common  Snowballs  are.  The  leaves 
are  also  said  to  be  beautifully  plaited, 
or  plicate,  whence  its  scientific  name. 
It  will  probably  increase  by  laying 
down,  as  the  common  Snowball. —  Ma- 
ryland Farmer. 


Tomatoes  were  first  used  in  this  coun- 
try as  an  edible  in  the  year  1819,  by  the 
late  Hon.  Bailey  Bartlett,  of  Haverhill, 
Massachusetts;  but  they  did  not  come 
into  general  use  until  more  than  twen- 
ty years  subsequent  to  that  elate. 


Co-relations  of  Bees  and  Flowees.  — 
The  bees,  Mr.  Darwin  says,  have  solved 
a  difficult  problem.  They  have  made 
their  cells  of  a  proper  shape  to  hold  the 
greatest  possible  amount  of  honey,  with 
the  least  possible  consumption  of  pre- . 
cious  wax  in  their  construction.  No 
human  workman  is  skillful  enough  to 
do  what  a  crowd  of  bees  can  do — work- 
ing in  a  dark  hive — make  cells  of  wax 
of  the  true  form . 

The  number  of  bumble-bees  in  the 
country  will  depend  upon  the  number  of 
cats.  How  can  that  be?  Because  the 
number  of  bees  is  dependent  upon  the 
number  of  field-mice,  which  eat  the 
bees.  Hence,  the  more  cats  the  fewer 
mice,  and  the  fewer  mice  the  more 
bees. 

If  the  whole  genus  of  bumble-bees 
became  extinct,  or  very  rare,  the  Heart's- 
eaee  and  Bed  Clover  would  become 
rare  or  wholly  disappear.  How  is  that? 
Because  bees  promote  the  growth  of 
those  flowers.  The  visits  of  bees  are 
necessary  to  the  fertilization  of  some 
kinds  of  Clover,  and  almost  indispensa- 
ble to  the  Heart's-ease.  Bumble-bees 
alone  visit  the  Bed  Clover,  as  other  bees 
can  not  reach  the  nectar. 

In  a  word,  no  bees,  no  seed;  no  seed, 
no  increase  of  the  flower.  The  more 
visits  from  the  bees,  the  more  seeds  from 
the  flowers;  the  more  seeds  from  the 
flowers,  the  more  flowers  from  the 
seeds. 

Nearly  all  our  orchidaceous  plants  ab- 
solutely require  the  visits  of  these  in- 
sects to  remove  their  pollen -masses, 
and  thus  to  fertilize  them. 

Twenty  heads  of  unprotected  Dutch 
Clover  yielded  2,990  seeds;  the  same 
number  protected  from  bees  produced 
not  one  seed.  One  hundred  heads  of 
unprotected  Red  Clover  yielded  2,700 
seeds;  the.same  number  protected  from 
bees,  not  a  seed. — Ohio  Farmer. 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICTJLTUBIST. 


71 


The  Date-palm  Tree  has  not  yet 
come  into  favor  in  California,  though 
several  hundred  are  growing  in  various 
parts  of  the  State,  from  San  Diego  to 
Cache  Creek  Canon.  It  should  and 
doubtless  will  be  planted  more  and 
more  every  year.  As  an  ornament  no 
other  plant  is  equal  to  it  in  California; 
it  is  tall  and  exceptional  in  form,  and 
gives  a  sub-tropical  look  to  the  scenery. 
No  tree  in  Los  Angeles  impresses  the 
tourist  from  a  cold  clime  more  than  the 
Palm.  Not  half-a-dozen  have  yet 
come  into  bearing,  but  if  they  were  bar- 
ren a  few  should  still  be  set  out  in 
every  town.  But  they  bear  and  will 
bear.  In  Syria  and  Mesopotamia,  which 
have  the  climate  of  the  Sacramento  and 
San  Joaquin  valleys,  the  Date  is  culti- 
vated extensively  and  with  much  profit. 
Egypt  has  5,000  trees,  and  after  they 
are  thirty  years  old  the  annual  yield  of 
each  is  estimated  at  300  pounds.  Two 
trees  are  sufficient  to  feed  one  person, 
and  an  acre  will  hold  two  hundred. 
The  value  of  the  trees  is  so  firm  that 
the  tax  on  them  is  a  considerable  item 
in  the  Egyptian  revenue.  The  young 
sprouts  are  cooked  and  served  like  As- 
paragus, and  might  be  a  fine  source  of 
profit  here  until  the  tree  should  come 
into  bearing. 


The  Absorption  oe  Ammonia  by  Plants. 
— It  has  been  generally  believed  that 
the  ammonia  present  in  the  atmosphere 
(proceeding  from  animal  and  vegetable 
decomposition,  etc.)  might  be  directly 
absorbed  by  the  leaves  of  plants,  and 
might  thus  furnish  them  with  nitrogen- 
ous aliment.  M.  Schoesing,  in  a  note 
to  the  French  Academy  of  Science, 
claims  to  have  demonstrated,  experi- 
mentally for  the  first  time,  that  this  is 
actually  the  case.  His  experiment  con- 
sisted in  cultivating  two  plants  of  the 
same  species  under   conditions  exactly 


similar,  except  that  one  of  them  was  al- 
lowed to  develop  its  foliage  in  an  at- 
mosphere pervaded  with  ammoniacal 
vapors,  and  the  other  in  an  atmosphere 
free  from  such  vapors.  Analyses  sub- 
sequently proved  that  every  part  of  the 
former  plant  was  "richer"  than  the  cor- 
responding part  of  the  latter — the  ''en- 
richment" of  the  leaves  having  extend- 
ed to  the  stem  and  root.  The  signifi- 
cance "of  the  experiment  is  apparently 
not  the  proof  that  plants  do  obtain  ni- 
trogen and  ammonia;  but  the  proof 
that  they  absorb  it  directly  through 
their  leaves.  But  they  may,  and  proba- 
bly do,  also  absorb  it  through  their 
roots,  when  it  is  washed  from  the  at- 
mosphere by  descending  rains  and  pre- 
sented to  the  plants  in  the  soil  as  aqua 
ammonias.  The  experiment  above  does 
not  disprove  this,  and  a  similar  direct 
experiment  on  the  roots  of  growing 
plants  would  undoubtedly  demonstrate 
it. 


Don't  Destroy  your  Grape  -  vines. — 
"We  learn  that  many  persons  in  differ- 
ent portions  of  the  State  who  have  small 
vineyards,  and  who  do  not  wish  to  make 
their  Grapes  into  wine  or  brandy,  for 
the  reason  that  wine  and  brandy  can 
not  be  made  to  pay  on  a  small  scale, 
are  talking  of  digging  up  their  vines. 
Such  persons  generally  have  the  Mis- 
sion or  native  California  Grape,  and 
perhaps  no  other  in  cultivation,  and  we 
are  fully  aware  that  the  past  experience 
of  such  is  anything  but  encouraging  for 
the  future,  without  some  change  that 
will  promise  and  bring  better  remunera- 
tion for  the  use  of  their  land,  and  the 
labor  necessary  to  cultivate  the  vine- 
yard, pick  and  market  the  Grapes.  We 
also  know  that  at  this  time  a  veiy  little 
additional  outlay  will  bring  this  desir- 
ed change.  Let  these  native  vines  be 
grafted  with  the  White  Muscat  of  Alex- 


72 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


andria  or  "White  Malaga  Crapes,  and 
the  second  year  after  grafting  the  crop 
will  very  nearly  equal  in  amount  the 
present  crop  of  native  Grapes.  Instead 
of  having  on  hand  then  a  Grape  value- 
less to  you  for  wine-making  purposes 
on  account  of  your  situation,  and  good 
for  no  other  paying  purpose,  you  will 
have  a  crop  valuable  for  raisins. 

Then  the  objection  that  you  have  but 
a  limited  quantity  will  not  apply,  for 
you  can  make  a  small  quantity  of  rai- 
sins just  as  cheaply  and  with  just  as 
much  certainty  that  they  will  be  of  good 
quality  as  though  you  had  the  largest 
vineyard  in  the  State;  you  can  make 
them,  too,  when  you  would  be  doing 
but  little  else,  when  your  labor  and 
time  can  not  be  better  or  more  profitably 
employed.  No  farmer  should  be  so 
short-sighted  at  this  time,  when  we  all 
know  the  great  curse  and  drawback  to 
California  agriculture  is  want  of  variety 
in  production. 

Again,  raisins  have  been  made  in  ma- 
ny localities  by.  the  Aid  en  process,  and 
we  believe  in  every  instance  those  mak- 
ing them  are  well  satisfied  with  the  re- 
sults, both  financially  and  -otherwise, 
and  many  of  them  are  preparing  to  in- 
crease their  vineyards  instead  of  de- 
creasing them.  Alden  machines  will 
be  erected  in  nearly  every  locality  in 
the  State  within  a  few  years,  and  it 
would  be  a  pity,  just  as  circumstances 
are  so  promising  to  render  your  vines 
valuable,  to  root  them  out,  and  thus 
throw  away  all  the  labor  and  expense 
of  cultivating  them  up  to  the  present 
time,  and  the  good  prospects  for  profits 
in  the  future.  —  Sacramento  Record. 


The  Early  Normandy  Plum  . — Says  the 
American  Garden :  A  new  Plum  bearing 
this  name  has  Deen  originated  in  France. 
The  early  season  at  which  it  ripens  may 
render  it  worth  cultivating  in  this  coun- 


try. It  is  thus  described:  Tree  a  very 
vigorous  grower,  with  long  branches 
somewhat  divergent.  Fruit  large  or 
very  large — as  large  as  a  Green  Gage — 
divided  on  one  side  by  a  very  slight  fur- 
row. Skin  fine,  transparent;  separat- 
ing readily  from  the  fruit  when  ripe;  of 
a  clear  purple  color  on  the  sunny  side, 
and  light  flesh-colored  on.  the  shady 
side;  covered  with  alight,  bluish  bloom. 
Flesh  fine  and  melting;  of  a  greenish 
color;  somewhat  firm;  filled  with  a  very 
abundant,  sugary,  refreshing  juice.  It 
ripens  from  the  middle  to  the  end  of 
July,  and  this,  together  with  its  size, 
handsome  appearance,  and  good  quali- 
ty, render  it  valuable.  We  have  no 
large  Plum  of  the  same  character  which 
ripens  so  early. 

METEOROLOGICAL    RECORD, 

Fob  the  Month  ending  Janttaby  31st,  1875- 

(Prepared  for  The  Hoeticixlttteist  by  Thos.  Tennent, 
Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No. 
423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office) . 

BAEOMETEE. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.12  in. 

do  12  m 30.11 

do  3  p.  m 30.11 

do  6p.m 30.10 

Highest  point  on  the  2d,  at  9  a.m 30.34 

Lowest  point  on  the  25th,  at  6  p. m 29.74 

THEEMOMETEE. 
(  With  north  exposure  and  free  from  reflected  heat.) 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 45° 

do  12  m 50° 

do  3  p.m 51° 

do  6  P.  M 47° 

Highest  point  on  the  24th,  at  3  p  m 60° 

Lowest  point  on  the  15th  and  16th,  at  9  a.  m 37° 

SELF  -  EEGISTEEING    THEEMOMETEE. 

Mean  height  during  the  night 40° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  19th 56° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  6th 32° 

WINDS. 

North  and  north-east  on  8  dajs ;  east  and  south-east 
on  13  days;  south-west  on  8  days;  west  on  2  days. 

"WEATHEE. 

Clear  on  9  days;  cloudy  on  18  days;  variable  on  4  days; 

rain  on  11  days. 

BAIN   GAUGE. 

11th 0.04 

13th 0.18 

14th 1.01 

16th 0.19 

18th 2.76 

19th 0.37 

20th 0.02 

22d 0.82 

23d 1-47 

24th 0.07 

31st 0.04 

Total 6.97 

Total  Rain  of  the  season  to  date 15.98 


Old  Date-palm  Tree  (Phcenix  dactyliferce). 


Giant  Fig  Trees  (Fiats  carica  giganteus). 


T 


REES 


of  Semi-tropical   California, 


THE 


AND   FLORAL  MAGAZINE. 


Vol.  V.  SAN  FRANCISCO,   MARCH,   1875.  No.  3. 


SEED -PLANTING. 


BY    F.     A.     MILLEK. 


One  of  the  most  important  items  in 
Horticulture  is  "  seeds."  Old  varieties 
are  perpetuated  by  seeds,  and  new  va- 
rieties are  produced.  "Whoever  takes 
an  interest  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil 
will  resort  to  the  planting  of  seeds. 
Though  the  experiments  of  raising 
plants  from  seed  are  highly  gratifying 
in  some  instances,  the  disappointments 
are  by  no  means  few,  I  regret  to  say. 

Seed  -  raising  has  become  popular; 
thousands  risk  their  money  in  purchas- 
ing seeds  every  season,  and  fortunes  are 
built  up  by  dealers,  who  are  always 
pleased  to  serve  their  customers  with 
the  "right  article."  While  some  suc- 
ceed in  making  their  seeds  grow,  others 
fail  entirely;  and  in  the  latter  case  it  is 
usual  to  put  all  the  blame  on  the  deal- 
er, who  furnished  anything  but  the 
right  article.  In  many  cases,  no  doubt, 
seedsmen  deserve  blame,  as  there  are 
some  who  care  little  about  the  quality 
of  seed  they  sell,  so  long  as  they  make 
the  money;  but  decidedly  the  most  cas- 
es of  failures  in  making  seeds  grow,  are 
due  to  ignorance  and  bad  treatment. 
There  are  some  very  reliable  seedsmen 

Vol.  V.— 10. 


in  the  United  States,  who  would  not 
knowingly  sell  bad  seeds;  these  are  the 
men  to  purchase  seeds  from. 

The  dangers  which  one  encounters 
in  selecting  seeds  are,  first,  in  selecting 
varieties  which  are  not  at  all  adapted  to 
this  coast;  and,  second,  in  choosing 
kinds  which  are  positively  not  worth 
cultivating.  To  point  out  the  varieties 
which  are  either  adapted  to  our  climate, 
or  worthy  of  cultivation,  I  will  not  un- 
dertake here,  but  make  it  a  special  sub- 
ject at  some  future  day. 

Seeds  of  annual  and  herbaceous 
plants,  with  a  very  few  exceptions,  ger- 
minate freely  under  ordinary  treatment, 
but  mistakes  are  often  made  in  planting 
these  seeds  too  shallow  or  too  deep. 
To  lay  down  strict  rules  as  to  how  much 
these  seeds  should  be  covered  is  next 
to  impossible;  but,  as  a  general  rule, 
coarse-grained  seeds  should  be  planted 
deeper  than  very  fine  seeds.  For  ex- 
ample, Sweet  Peas  had  better  be  cov- 
ered from  one  to  one  and  a  half  inch, 
while  Portulacca  should  not  be  covered 
more  than  one-eighth  of  an  inch;  in 
fact  it  would  be  much  better  to  sow  the 
latter  upon  the  surface  without  cover- 
ing at  all,  as  a  timely  rain  or  watering 
will  carry  the  seeds  sufficiently  deep  in 


74 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


the  soil  to  vegetate.  But  here  arises  a 
difficulty:  our  atmosphere  is  dry,  our 
winds  are  sharp,  our  sky  is  clear,  and 
these  circumstances  combined  dry  up 
the  surface  of  the  soil  so  quickly,  that 
young  tender  plants,  merely  existing 
upon  the  surface  soil,  are  apt  to  dry  up 
in  a  very  few  hours.  Again :  where  ir- 
rigation is  resorted  to,  seeds  sown  upon 
the  surface  are  apt  to  be  washed  away 
entirely,  or  the  young  tender  plants 
will  be  broken  or  washed  away.  All 
this  makes  shallow  seed-planting  very 
uncertain.  The  safest  plan  here,  un- 
doubtedly, is  for  us  to  sow  seeds  early 
in  pots  or  boxes,  placed  in  a  warm  situ- 
ation and  covered  with  a  pane  of  glass, 
slightly  painted  or  whitewashed.  Seeds 
will  germinate  much  better  in  partial 
shade.  After  sowing,  water  thorough- 
ly with  a  fine  sprinkler;  perhaps  no 
more  irrigation  will  be  required  until 
the  seeds  are  up.  As  soon  as  the 
young  plants  make  their  appearance, 
they  will  require  airing,  by  raising  the 
glass  cover  on  one  side  of  the  pot  or 
box,  say  one  or  two  inches.  After  two 
weeks  more  the  glass  may  be  taken  off 
altogether  in  order  to  harden  the  plants. 
When  the  young  plants  have  made 
from  four  to  six  leaves,  they  may  be 
carefully  taken  up  and  planted  in  well- 
prepared  ground,  wherever  they  are  re- 
quired. After  transplanting,  give  them 
a  gentle  watering,  sufficient  to  moisten 
the  ground  well  down  to  the  bottom  of 
the  roots.  During  bright  warm  days 
they  will  require  shade,  say  from  9 
a.  m.  until  3  p.  m.  ,  for  about  three  or 
four  days,  after  which  time  the  plants 
may  safely  be  left  to  themselves.  Of 
course,  it  is  expected  that  the  plants 
should  be  kept  clear  from  weeds.  An 
occasional  hoeing  if  the  ground  be- 
comes hard,  and  in  case  of  dry  weather 
a  watering  twice  a  week,  will  be  all  that 
is  required.     Such  seed  as  Mignonette, 


Sweet  Alyssum,  "Wallflower,  and  the 
like,  are  better  planted  in  the  open 
ground,  as  they  germinate  freely  in 
this  way. 

The  sowing  of  seeds  in  pots  or  boxes 
with  glass  covers  is  more  imperative  in 
San  Francisco  and  its  immediate  vicin- 
ity than  in  other  parts  of  the  State, 
when  we  take  into  consideration  that 
the  climate  is  never  warm  enough  for 
the  germination  of  seeds  in  the  open 
ground,  while  on  the  other  hand,  the 
climate  of  Stockton,  Sacramento,  and 
other  inland  districts  is  so  hot,  that 
seeds  and  young  plants  must  be  shad- 
ed, to  keep  them  from  perishing. 

The  germination  of  all  kinds  of  seeds 
may  be  facilitated  very  much  by  steep- 
ing them  in  pure  lime-water,  say  for 
eighteen  to  twenty-four  hours.  This  is 
done  simply  by  dissolving  a  little  lime 
in  water,  allowing  the  solution  to  set- 
tle, pouring  off  the  clear  solution,  and 
steeping  the  seeds  in  the  latter,  as  afore- 
said. Most  of  the  seeds  of  annuals  and 
herbaceous  plants  will  vegetate  in  from 
five  to  fifteen  days,  under  this  treat- 
ment, and  there  will  be  no  anxiety  oc- 
casioned by  waiting  for  their  germina- 
tion for  weeks  and  months. 

[To  be  Continued.] 


Foksythias. — Plants  producing  yel- 
low flowers  are  not  so  generally  admir- 
ed as  others,  although  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  golden  is  nature's  fa- 
vorite color.  Still  on  account  of  the 
earliness  of  the  Forsythias,  or  "Golden 
Bells"  as  they  are  sometimes  called,  a 
plant  or  two  should  be  admitted  into 
the  garden.  The  F.  suspensa  is  proba- 
bly the  best  for  planting  among  the 
smaller  kinds  of  shrubs,  as  the  plant  is 
a  slender  grower,  of  a  half -trailing  hab- 
it. The  flowers  are  among  the  first  to 
appear  in  spring. 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HORTICTJLTUKIST. 


75 


EATHEK. 


BY   EUNE   BLUFF. 


A  little  Dandelion 

Was  sitting  in  the  grass, 
Down  by  a  narrow  pathway  where 

I  very  seldom  pass. 
It  tried  to  swing  its  golden  locks 

Upon  the  wooing  breeze ; 
It  smiled  right  up  into  my  face, 

As  if  'twere  bound  to  please. 

It  was  not  beautiful  nor  sweet; 

It  had  no  gift  of  grace, 
Nor  any  charm  was  there  to  see 

In  the  common  little  face, 
Save  that  'twas  modest  in  its  way, 

Blooming  half  hidden  there — 
Trying  its  best  to  smile  and  shine, 

And  make  the  earth  more  fair. 

And  yet  I  could  not  pass  it  by, 

It  was  so  plain  and  small. 
But  as  I  looked  it  seemed  as  if 

A  star  did  sometime  fall, 
And  lie  there  in  the  leaves  and  grass — 

A  tiny,  golden  thing — 
And  pass  itself  off  as  a  flower, 

One  bahny  day  in  spring. 

I  could  not  careless  pass  it  by 

Without  an  answering  look, 
But,  bending  down,  the  simple  flower 

From  out  its  place  I  took. 
Gathered  in  my  caressing  hand 

I  knew  'twould  rather  die, 
Than  still  unnoticed  there  to  bloom, 

Between  the  earth  and  sky. 

— Rural  New  Yorker. 


Alternanthera. — Of  the  various  forms 
of  the  Alternanthera,  now  in  cultiva- 
tion, The  Gardener's  Chronicle  thinks 
the  palm  must  be  given  to  A.  amabilis 
latifolia,  or  amabilis  bicolor,  as  a  bold- 
growing,  showy  variety.  Free  in 
growth,  and  handsome  in  color,  stand- 
ing alike  in  rain  and  sunshine,  it  is  al- 
so sufficiently  hardy  in  character  to 
stand  exposure  in  positions  where  oth- 
ers would  fail.  For  massing  or  work- 
ing out  bold  ribbon  lines,  or  central  de- 
signs, it  can  not  be  excelled. 


INFLUENCES  OF  VEGETATION. 

Vegetable  matter,  whether  in  the 
fresh  or  dried  state,  exerts  various  ef- 
fects in  the  propagation,  absorption,  or 
destruction  of  malaria.  According  to 
Dr.  Hammond,  he  contracted  intermit- 
tent fever  from  inspecting  musty  hay, 
and  symptoms  of  pyrexia  from  examin- 
ing old  books.  Dr.  Salisbury  considers 
that  measles  and  some  other  affections 
are  readily  conveyed  by  means  of  straw, 
and  that  epidemics  may  thus  be  propa- 
gated among  troops  in  camp.  Plants 
in  a  state  of  decay  or  decomposition 
give  rise  similarly  to  malaria,  or  at  any 
rate  produce  in  man  the  diseases  usual- 
ly attributed  to  such  a  cause.  Old 
trees  undergoing  the  process  of  dry  rot, 
more  especially  Cruciferce,  and  those 
generally  of  a  succulent  nature,  have 
this  effect.  Dense  vegetation,  as  low 
jungle,  especially  containing  trailing 
plants  and  of  a  nature  to  interfere  with 
free  perflation  of  the  locality,  is  condu- 
cive to  the  concentration  of  malaria.  C. 
A.  Gordon,  M.  D.  C.  B.,  in  an  interest- 
ing paper  on  the  "  Hygiene  of  Mala- 
ria," published  in  the  Medical  Press  and 
Circular,  enters  at  length  upon  the  sub- 
ject, and  furnishes  the  data  from  which 
the  present  article  is  compiled. 

Under  some  circumstances  trees  and 
growing  plants  are  valuable  as  protect- 
ives  against  malaria.  The  excellence  of 
a  belt  of  trees  between  a  barrack  and  a 
pestiferous  marsh  is  fully  acknowledg- 
ed, and  the  circumstance  of  planting  a 
marsh  with  evergreen  trees  has,  in 
many  instances,  converted  a  malarious 
into  a  healthy  locality.  On  the  other 
hand,  as  in  the  case  of  St.  Stephano 
and  Campo  Salina  in  the  Pontine 
Marshes,  places  have  become  unhealthy 
by  the  forest  being  cut  down.  The 
precise  process  by  which  these  trees 
and  some  of  the  plants  exert  their  de- 


76 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOBTICULTUBIST. 


structive  effect  upon  the   poison  is  as 
yet  unascertained. 

The  Bomans,  whenever  practicable, 
established  their  camps  under  the  shel- 
ter of  woods,  and  in  India  it  has  from  time 
immemorial  been  the  custom  of  the  na- 
tives of  malarious  districts  to  form  vil- 
lages in  the  denser  parts  of  the  jungles, 
where,  according  to  recent  observations, 
they  are  relatively  exempt,  not  only 
from  intermittent  fever,  but  from  chol- 
era. In  America,  the  Dismal  Swamp, 
where  ague  is  never  met  with  among 
the  inhabitants,  is  covered  with  trees  of 
large  and  lofty  stature. 

With  regard  to  water  as  a  vehicle  for 
ague-producing  malaria,  it  may  be  said 
that  not  only  that  which  is  stagnant, 
but  in  some  instances  that  of  rivulets 
impregnated  with  vegetable  matter, 
fresh  or  decaying,  may  convey  the  poi- 
son. In  some  instances  it  has  been 
found  that  although  health  may  not 
suffer  in  residents  in  such  localities  so 
long  as  they  refrain  from  making  use 
of  the  water,  yet  they  become  affect- 
ed when  they  neglect  this  precaution. 

If,  however,  there  are  plants  the 
presence  of  which  in  water  renders  it 
deleterious,  there  are  many  others 
which  act  as  purifiers,  and  render  that 
which  otherwise  would  be  deleterious, 
wholesome.  Among  such  are  Hydro- 
charis,  or  frog-bit,  Stratiotes,  or  water- 
soldier,  Myriophyllum,  Vallisneria,  and 
Anacharis  alsinastrum,  which,  since 
1834,  when  it  is  believed  to  have  been 
introduced  from  North  America,  has 
flourished  abundantly  in  marshes  and 
canals  in  England.  Among  other 
plants  which  have  a  similar  action  are 
Sagittaria,  or  arrow-head,  Alism.a  plan- 
tago,  or  water-plantain,  Butomus  umbel- 
latus,  or  flowering  rush,  Lemna,  or 
duckweed,  Pistia,  or  gigantic  duckweed, 
Montia,  Potamogeton,  or  brookweed, 
Callitriche,   or    starwort,    Hippuris,   or 


marestail,  JEquisetum,  or  horsetail,  be- 
sides various  rushes,  carices,  grasses, 
flags,  and  cresses;  while  GEnanthe,  al- 
though itself  poisonous,  purifies  water 
in  which  it  grows.  Notwithstanding 
the  undoubted  acrid  properties  of  the 
natural  order  Eanunculacce  generally, 
there  are  at  least  four  genera  whose 
presence  in  water  is  beneficial — namely, 
the  R.  aquatilis,  Nelumbium,  Victoria,  and 
Nymphce,  as  are  also  the  members  of  the 
natural  orders  Ceratophyllece  and  Pod- 
ostemacoe,  and  some  of  the  Algce  among 
the  cryptogamic  plants.  Some  of  these 
plants  being  provided  with  leaves  which 
float  upon  the  surface  of  the  water, 
directly  decompose  the  otherwise  nox- 
ious vapors  under  the  influence  of  the 
solar  rays,  and  in  their  stead  produce 
respirable  air;  others,  more  submerg- 
ed, themselves  give  out  a  supply  of  oxy- 
gen, thus  purifying  the  water  and  ren- 
dering it  fit  for  the  support  of  life. 

In  past  ages  there  appear  to  have 
been  instances  of  a  sort  of  instinctive 
resort  to  certain  plants  as  disinfectants. 
Herodian  relates  that  during  a  plague 
in  Italy,  in  the  second  century,  stran- 
gers crowding  to  Eome  were  directed  by 
the  physicians  to  retreat  to  Laurentum 
(now  San  Lorenzo),  a  place  so  called 
from  the  abundance  of  Laurus  nobilis, 
or  Sweet  Bay-tree,  which  then  grew 
there,  and  by  inhaling  the  odor  of 
which  they  would  in  a  certain  measure 
be  guarded  from  infection.  And  long 
before  the  time  alluded  to,  the  disciples 
of  Empedocles  had  been  accustomed  to 
plant  aromatic  and  balsamic  herbs  in 
the  neighborhood  of  their  dwellings,  in 
the  confident  belief  that  by  so  doing 
they  were  providing  means  of  defense 
against  fevers,  etc.  To  this  day  we 
have  the  name  of  "Feverfew"  as  the 
appellation  of  one  of  the  strongest- 
scented  Composites,  with  traditions  of 
its  abounding  febrifugal  powers. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


77 


Besides  all  these,  some  resin-yielding 
and  aromatic  blants  have  the  reputation 
of  destroying  malaria.  There  is  reason 
to  believe  that  several  species  of  the 
natural  order  Myrtacce  possess  this 
propert}r  besides  the  Eucalyptus  globu- 
lus. Of  late  years  this  plant  has  ob- 
tained a  high  reputation  for  its  assigned 
power,  and  some  writers  have  recom- 
mended its  introduction  with  a  similar 
object  on  the  Gold  Coast.  Various  ex- 
amples of  its  success  in  Algeria  are  re- 
corded. At  Pandook,  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  Hamyze,  where  fever  was  ex- 
tremely prevalent,  in  1867,  several 
thousand  plants  of  the  Eucalyptus  were 
introduced,  with  the  immediate  result 
of  rendering  the  locality  healthy.  A 
similar  result  was  obtained  at  Ben 
Machydon  and  Grue  de  Constantine,  in 
the  island  of  Corsica;  in  Cuba;  in  the 
Australian  colonies;  at  the  Cape  of 
Gfood  Hope;  and  other  places.  Prob- 
ably other  trees  which  yield  aromatic 
gum  resins  would  have  a  similar  effect, 
and  it  is  not  known  that  malarious  dis- 
eases prevail  in  places  where  trees  of 
the  natural  order  Coniferce  grow  abun- 
dantly. 

Various  other  plants  have  obtained 
a  reputation  as  being  capable  of  destroy- 
ing malaria,  or  at  any  rate  rendering 
that  influence  innocuous.  Thistles  had 
rendered  some  parts  of  the  Campagna 
near  Rome  healthy,  and  on  the  plants 
being  cut  down,  those  districts  became 
again  malarious.  Sunflowers  (Helian- 
thus)  appear  to  have  been  first  planted 
successfully  for  a  similar  purpose  in 
America.  Baron  von  Alsten,  whose 
property  was  situated  on  the  banks  of 
the  Scheldt,  and  liable  to  be  flooded  by 
that  river,  planted  several  patches  near 
his  house,  and  with  the  result  that  for 
ten  years  his  family  continued  exempt 
from  fever,  while  in  other  places,  where 
no  similar  precaution  was  taken,  the 


disease  continued  to  prevail.  The 
plant  has  of  late  years  been  sown  in  the 
Mauritius  for  a  similar  purpose,  and  in 
further  recommendation  of  its  good 
qualities,  the  observation  has  been 
made  that  it  yields  40  per  cent,  of 
good  oil;  that  the  leaves  from  it  are  ex- 
cellent fodder,  and  the  stems,  being 
rich  in  saltpetre,  make  good  fuel. 

Marshes  may  also  be  rendered  healthy 
by  the  presence  of  certain  plants. 
Among  those  that  conduce  to  this  happy 
result  is  the  Pistia  Stratiotes.  In  India, 
the  "West  Indies,  and  Africa,  the  power 
exerted  by  this  plant  in  absorbing  the 
deleterious  gases  of  muddy  marshes  is 
well  known,  and  probably  it  is  on  this 
account  that  in  the  latter  country  the 
plant  is  held  sacred.  The  Pistia  is  be- 
lieved to  possess  this  power  in  a  greater 
degree  than  any  other  plant,  being  ca- 
pable in  a  few  days  of  rendering  stag- 
nant water  sufficiently  pure  for  fish  to 
live  in;  although  it  by  no  means  follows 
that  the  water  is  thus  rendered  suitable 
for  use  by  man.  The  contrary  is  in- 
deed the  case.  In  Jamaica,  water  in 
which  this  plant  grows  acquires  so  ac- 
rid a  character  as  to  give  rise  to  intes- 
tinal fluxes  in  those  who  use  it. 

The  Toolsee  plant,  or  Thymus  capita- 
tus,  is  in  India  held  to  exert  the  power 
of  largely  increasing  ozone  during  sun- 
light, and  this  to  such  a  degree  that 
the  plant  has  become  sacred  to  Vish- 
nu (the  preserving  principle).  Other 
plants  have  more  or  less  the  same  char- 
acter, as  the  Cherry  Laurel  (C'erasus 
lauro-cerasus  (although  both  its  flowers 
and  fruit  contain,  as  is  well  known,  a 
poisonous  principle).  So  also  with 
Cloves,  Lavender,  Mint,  Lemon,  Helio- 
trope, Hyacinth,  and  Narcissus,  al- 
though the  odor  from  the  latter  is,  un- 
der certain  circumstances,  capable  of 
producing  unpleasant  effects.  Certain 
prepared  perfumes,  similarly   exposed 


78 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTUKIST. 


to  tlie  sunshine,  add  further  to  the  at- 
mospheric stock  of  ozone  —  the  well- 
known  eau  de  Cologne  for  instance, 
oil  of  Bergamot,  extract  of  millefleurs, 
essence  of  Lavender,  and  some  of  the 
aromatic  tinctures.  The  oxidation  of 
certain  essential  oils  obtained  from 
plants  and  flowers,  such  as  the  oils  of 
Nutmeg,  Aniseed,  Thyme,  and  Pepper- 
mint, is  likewise  indicated  as  a  source 
of  ozone,  though  the  supply  of  this 
aerial  condiment  is  in  the  case  of  these 
less  considerable.  Perhaps,  indeed, 
the  influences  of  such  natural  destroy- 
ers of  malaria  are  less  studied  and  will- 
ingly recognized  at  the  p  resent  day 
than  they  were  in  former  times. 

Some  trees  and  tree-like  plants  have, 
with  greater  or  less  reason,  the  reputa- 
tion of  themselves  evolving  malaria, 
and  consequently  the  natives  of  the 
countries  where  they  grow  avoid  sleep- 
ing or  resting  under  them  at  night. 
Those  that  give  off  their  branches  at  an 
inconsiderable  distance  from  the 
ground,  or  the  foliage  of  which  is 
dense,  have  this  reputation  in  the  high- 
est degree,  and  among  them  the  Tam- 
arind and  Neem  trees  (Melia  azadarach). 
A  similar  influence  is  said  to  arise  from 
the  Papaw  tree  (Carica  papaya),  and 
Dr.  Livingstone  states  that  in  East  Af- 
rica, near  the  Zambesi  River,  tracts  are 
covered  with  the  plant  Pcederia  fetida, 
a  member  of  the  Guettarda  group  of  the 
Bubiacece. 

Many  people  suffer  inconvenience  in 
various  ways  from  odors  arising  from 
certain  plants,  although  the  effects  are 
not  in  the  nature  of  disease  of  recogniz- 
ed malarial  origin.  In  these  cases  the 
matter  evolved,  so  far  from  being  an 
invisible  aura,  is  a  substantial  exhala- 
tion. Thus,  besides  the  unknown  ef- 
fects of  ipecacuanha  in  inducing  sick- 
ness in  certain  persons  even  when 
brought  no  nearer  to  them  than  an  ad- 


joining room,  and  flowering  plants  in 
producing  "hay-asthma,"  nausea,  sick- 
ness, and  even  death  has  been  attribut- 
ed to  the  odors  of  some,  as  the  Narcis- 
sus and  the  Cheiranthus  or  Wallflower, 
not  to  mention  the  fraction  of  truth 
there  no  doubt  is  in  the  story  of  the 
Upas  -  tree  (Antiarus  toxicaria).  The 
Manchinel  tree  (Hippomana  mancinella, 
N.  0.  Eaphorbiacea)  of  the  West  In- 
dies, and  certain  American  and  Chinese 
species  of  Rhus  (N.  0.  Anacardiacea), 
not  only  produce  severe  irritant  effects 
upon  the  skin,  but  affect  very  severely 
such  persons  as  are  predisposed  to  suf- 
fer from  malaria.  The  flowers  of  the 
Daphne  Mezereum  also  evolve  odors 
which  are  more  or  less  injurious  to  par- 
ticular persons,  and  a  similar  property 
is  attributed  to  the  Oleander  (Nerium 
Oleander).  The  Mangrove,  or  Bhizopho- 
ra,  has  ever  had  an  unenviable  notori- 
ety, on  account  of  the  malaria-produc- 
ing properties  assigned  to  it.  As  a 
rule,  probably  without  exception,  local- 
ities where  this  plant  flourishes,  being 
for  the  most  part  marshes  and  low-lying 
tracts,  liable  to  inundation,  are  notori- 
ously unhealthy,  but  in  all  probability 
this  reputation  arises  altogether  from 
paludal  causes. 


Tuberose. — The  Pearl  variety  is  much 
superior  to  the  common  double  sort; 
the  flower -stem  is  much  shorter,  and 
the  plant  is  altogether  of  a  more  vig- 
orous growth,  both  out  of  doors  and  al- 
so when  grown  in  heat  during  the  win- 
ter. The  variegated-leaved  variety  we 
consider  of  no  value — the  plants  being 
grown  exclusively  for  cut-flowers,  the 
leaves  are  made  no  use  of,  and  if  they 
were,  it  is  no  improvement  to  have  a 
white  flowering  plant  with  white  striped 
leaves,  and  white-leaved  plants  are  said 
to  be  of  a  more  delicate  constitution 
than  those  with  green  leaves. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


79 


ALDEN  PKOCESS   OF   DRYING  FRUITS. 

The  Alden  process  of  preserving 
fruits  and  vegetables  has  come  to  be 
recognized  as  one  of  the  important  in- 
dustries of  this  State,  and  the  products 
of  the  factories  are  increasing  in  favor 
each  year.  The  circular  of  the  Alden 
Fruit  Preserving  Company  for  1875 
shows  that  the  business  is  in  a  healthy 
condition,  and  not  many  years  will 
elapse  before  this  interest  will  be  one 
of  the  most  promising  connected  with 
the  agriculture  of  this  State.  During 
the  past  four  years  more  than  200  Al- 
den factories  have  been  established  in 
the  United  States,  all  of  which  are  in 
full  operation  during  the  proper  season, 
and  this  method  of  the  preservation  of 
fruits  is  the  only  one  that  has  risen  to 
sufficient  dignity  and  importance  to 
command  a  distinct  recognition  and  re- 
munerative prices  in  the  markets  of  the 
world.  The  company  is  prepared  to 
show  that  all  the  valuable  qualities  of  a 
ton  of  Apples  can  be  delivered  in  Liv- 
erpool in  an  imperishable  condition  at 
a  gross  cost  of  not  more  than  $20  per 
ton,  while  fresh  Apples  sent  from  the 
Atlantic  sea-board  to  the  same  destina- 
tion can  not  be  laid  down  at  less  than 
$52  per  ton,  without  figuring  the  loss 
by  decay,  etc.  Already  the  fruits  pre- 
pared by  the  Alden  process  have  far 
outstripped  the  sun-dried  fruits,  the 
only  real  competition  being  with  can- 
ned goods,  while  the  cost  of  the  cans, 
the  heavy  freights,  and  the  leakage  of 
canned  goods  give  the  Alden  products 
a  great  advantage  in  shipping  to  dis- 
tant markets.  Littlefield,3Webb  &  Co. , 
agents  for  the  Alden  Company,  whose 
report  is  embodied  in  the  circular,  state 
that  the  best  markets  for  this  class  of 
California  products  have  been  in  the 
Territories  and  mines,  though  consider- 
able business  has  been   done  in  this 


State  and  in  filling  orders  for  the  east- 
ern and  southern  markets,  while,  to  a 
limited  extent,  they  have  been  used  for 
vessels  going  on  long  sea- voyages,  and 
are  slowly  being  introduced  in  foreign 
countries.  One  of  the  greatest  draw- 
backs to  sun-drying  ever  being  largely 
practiced  in  this  State  is  this :  All  sun- 
dried  fruits  are  covered  with  the  minute 
eggs  of  insects.  In  colder  countries 
these  eggs  lie  dormant  all  winter,  and 
the  fruit  is  generally  consumed  before 
they  hatch  out.  In  California  the  eggs 
deposited  during  summer  hatch  out  in 
autumn  and  destroy  the  fruit.  In  the 
Alden  evaporating  process  there  is  no 
opportunity  for  insects  laying  their 
eggs,  and  the  fruit  is  not  only  cleaner 
but  is  sound,  and  will  keep  so  under 
any  changes  of  temperature. 


The  Golden  Arbo:rvit.e  is  destined  to 
become  most  popular.  It  keeps  its 
bright  golden  tint  throughout  the 
year,  gives  a  lawn  a  very  bright  ap- 
pearance, is  admirably  adapted  to  small 
house  fronts  and  cemetery  lots,  and  is 
equally  valuable  for  potting  purposes 
and  window  decoration.  For  edging, 
it  is  superior  to  Box;  and  for  low  hedg- 
es, not  desired  to  be  impervious,  it 
would  be  very  beautiful. 


The  orchards  of  California  will  have 
thousands  of  tons  of  their  delicious 
fruits  to  feast  the  people  of  New  York, 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore, 
and  the  present  year  they  will  be  re- 
galed with  our  Oranges,  Lemons, 
Limes,  Figs,  Baisins,  orchard  fruits, 
and  nuts,  superior  to  any  ever  before 
seen.  "What  need  we  say  more  for  a 
State  that  is  destined  to  lead  the  Union 
in  wealth  and  influence? 


80 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


TEACHINGS   OF  FLOWERS. 

BY    AN    AMATEUB. 

Flowers  admonish  us  of  the  instabili- 
ty of  earthly  grandeur  and  beauty,  by 
their  fragility  and  shortness  of  dura- 
tion; saying  in  the  language  of  the 
Psalmist:  "As  for  man,  his  days  are  as 
grass;  as  a  flower  of  the  field,  so  he 
flourisheth;  for  the  wind  passeth  over 
it  and  it  is  gone,  and  the  place  thereof 
shall  know  it  no  more."  They  teach  us 
the  utter  foolishness  of  that  pride  which 
delights  almost  entirely,  as  some  do,  in 
personal  adornments  and  gaudy  trap- 
pings; for  be  our  dress  ever  so  rich,  the 
simplest  flowers  of  the  field,  that  neith- 
er toil  nor  spin,  are  arrayed  much  more 
sumptuously : 

"Along  the  sunny  bank  or  watery  mead 
Ten  thousand  stalks  their  various  blossoms 

spread : 
Peaceful  and  lowly  in  their  native  soil, 
They  neither  know  to  spin,  nor  care  to  toil, 
Tet,  with  confessed  magnificence,  deride 
Our  vile  attire  and  impotence  of  pride." 

It  is  thus  they  admonish  the  pros- 
perous, the  proud,  the  uplifted  in  spir- 
it; but  to  the  poor,  the  lowly,  and  the 
fallen,  they  are  as  sympathizing  friends, 
whispering  words  of  comfort  and  hope, 
sharing  their  sorrows,  and  thus  render- 
ing the  burden  easier  to  bear.  And  by 
making  them  participators  in  our  grief, 
we  lose  that  painful  sense  of  loneliness 
and  desolation  which  ever  accompanies 
the  blighting  of  our  earthly  prospects, 
and  consequent  desertion  of  friends, 
(falsely  so  called);  our  minds  are  in- 
sensibly drawn  to  the  contemplation  of 
His  infinite  goodness  and  mercy,  who 
ordains  all  things  for  the  best,  and  suf- 
fers not  a  sparrow  to  fall  to  the  ground, 
not  a  hair  of  our  heads  to  perish  unno- 
ted. 

"We  reflect  on  the  many  blessings  He 
has  poured  upon  us,  all  undeserving  as 


we  are,  and  taught  by  the  example  of 
the  flowers,  whose  tiny  hands  are  ever 
clasped  in  adoration,  whose  breath  is 
ever  exhaled  as  an  offering  of  praise  at 
the  footstool  of  their  Maker,  we  be- 
come resigned,  nay,  even  cheerful;  and 
prompted  by  feelings  of  gratitude,  our 
thoughts  involuntarily  shape  themselves 
into  words  similar  to  the  following,  per- 
haps: 

"  0  flowers  that  breathe  of  beauty's  reign 

In  many  a  tint  o'er  lawn  and  lea, 
And  give  the  cold  heart  once  again 

A  dream  of  happier  infancy ; 
And  even  on  the  grave  can  be 

A  spell  to  weed  affection's  pain — 
Children  of  Eden,  who  could  see, 

Nor  own  His  bounty  in  your  reign." 

Yes!  silent  monitors  though  they  be, 
they  are  not  voiceless,  but  gifted  with  an 
eloquence  divine  that  appeals  alike  to 
the  heart  and  understanding;  and  would 
we  but  hearken  to  their  preaching,  our 
bosoms  would  become  as  well-springs 
of  mutual  piety,  peace  and  good-fel- 
lowship would  prevail  upon  earth,  and 
men  would  be  no  more  shedders  of  each 
other's  blood,  and  perpetrators  of  the 
blackest  crimes.     But  alas! 

"  Many  in  this  dim  world  of  cares, 
Have  sat  with  angels  unawares;" 

and  few,  very  few,  are  they  who  can 
behold  the  bright  countenances  of  heav- 
en's messengers,  and  listen  to  their  dis- 
course with  an  understanding  spirit,  for 
ambition,  and  avarice,  and  pride  have 
obscured  our  powers  of  vision,  and  chok- 
ed up  the  avenues  to  that  treasure-house 
wherein  lie  hid  our  finer  sensibilities 
and  aspirations  after  the  only  intrinsic 
good. 

"The  world  is  too  much  with  us;  late  and  soon, 
Getting  and  spending  we  lay  waste  our  powers, 
Little  we  see  in  nature  that  is  ours; 
We  have  given  our  hearts  away,  a  sordid  boon." 

But  let  us  tear  the  film  from  before 
our  eyes.     Let  us  endeavor  to  eradicate 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


81 


from  our  bosoms  envy,  hatred,  and  all 
evil  passions.  Let  us  practice  meek- 
ness and  charity,  and,  as  far  as  in  us 
lies,  obey  those  holy  impulses  and  di- 
vine incitements  which  the  Maker  has 
implanted  in  every  human  bosom,  and 
thus  furnished  us  with  the  means  of 
working  out  our  moral  improvements, 
if  we  do  not  ungratefully  reject  what  is 
intended  for  our  benefit. 

"  There  is  a  lesson  in  each  flower, 
A  story  in  each  stream  and  bower; 

In  every  herb  on  which  we  tread 
Are  written  words  which,  rightly  read, 

Will  lead  you  from  earth's  fragrant  sod 
To  hope,  and  holiness,  and  God." 

Let  us  then  peruse  those  lessons;  let 
us  "read,  mark,  learn,  and  inwardly 
digest"  those  written  words.  So  shall 
we  profit  by  them,  and  lay  up  in  our 
hearts  treasures  whose  value  is  far 
above  the  silver  and  gold  of  the  mines 
even  of  the  great  Comstock,  or  Golcon- 
da's  jewels;  treasures  which  neither  moth 
nor  rust  may  corrupt,  nor  thieves  break 
in  and  steal. 

"  Flowers,  the  sole  luxury  that  nature  knew, 
In  Eden's  pure  and  spotless  garden  grew. 
Gay  without  toil,  and  lovely  without  art, 
They  spring  to  cheer  the  sense  and  glad  the 
human  heart." 

"  God  made  the  flowers  to  beautify 
The  earth,  and  cheer  man's  careful  mood, 
And  he  is  happiest  who  hath  power 
To  gather  wisdom  from  a  flower, 
And  wake  his  heart  in  every  hour 
To  pleasant  gratitude. " 

"  To  me  ye  seem 

Like  creatures  of  a  dream — 
Aerial  phantoms  of  delight; 

I  can  but  deem  ye  much 
Too  pure  for  mortal  touch, 

Ye  are  so  very  fair,  so  passing  bright." 

"  Sweet  nurslings  of  the  vernal  skies 
Bathed  in  soft  airs  and  fed  with  dew, 
What  more  than  magic  in  you  lies 

To  fill  the  heart's  fond  view! 
Belies  are  ye  of  Eden's  bowers, 
As  soft,  as  fragrant  and  as  fair 
Vol.  V.— 11. 


As  those  that  crown'd  the  sunshine  hours 
Of  happy  wanderers  there!" 

"  Floral  apostles!  that  in  dewy  splendor 
Weep  without  woe,  and  blush  without  a  crime, 
O!  may  I  deeply  learn,  and  ne'er  surrender 
Your  love  sublime." 

"0,  put  away  thy  pride, 

Or  be  ashamed  of  power 
That  can  not  turn  aside 
The  breeze  that  waves  a  flower. ' ' 


THE  FBENCH  VINE -MOTH. 

A  correspondent  of  the  London  Dai- 
ly Telegraph  writes : 

"  Meantime  the  phylloxera  vastatrix, 
or  French  vine -moth,  would  seem  to 
work  a  distinctly  appreciable  and  even 
serious  amount  of  mischief.  It  was  to- 
ward the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century 
that  this  little  pest  first  showed  itself 
at  Argenteuil,  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood of  Paris.  The  mature  insect 
is  a  tiny  yellowish  moth,  shot  ^rith 
gold,  which  passes  its  little  life  ai  ten 
days  flickering  to  and  fro  from  vine  to 
vine.  It  deposits  its  eggs  on  the  lower 
surface  of  the  leaves,  and  before  long 
there  emerges  from  each  egg  a  small 
emerald  caterpillar  that  at  once  hides 
itself  in  the  crannies  of  the  vine-stocks 
or  the  props  which  support  them.  Here 
it  weaves  a  minute  silken  cocoon  of  ash- 
en gray,  in  which  it  lies  snugly  covered 
up  till  the  winds  and  showers  of  April 
have  passed  over  into  the  blue  and 
green  of  May.  Then,  issuing  forth,  it 
covers  the  young  leaves  with  a  hideous 
web  of  clammy  threads  that  entangles 
the  tender  shoots  in  one  foul  mass  of 
unwholesome  blight,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  it  fixes  with  its  powerfully  armed 
jaws  upon  the  delicate  blossom,  and 
leaves  it  seared  as  with  a  hot  iron.  Day 
by  day  the  noisome  creature  eats  and 
grows,  and  grows  and  eats,  till,  from  a 
minute  grub,  not  the  thirty  -  second  of 


82 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


an  inch  in  length,  it  has  become  an  ug- 
ly worm,  the  length  of  a  man's  finger- 
joint.  Then,  clinging  tightly  to  the 
tendrils,  it  metamorphoses  itself  into  a 
dull-brown  chrysalis,  from  which,  in 
process  of  time,  the  moth  breaks  its 
way,  again  to  scatter  eggs  broadcast 
over  next  year's  vines.  For  the  past 
300  years,  the  vineyards  of  France, 
which  are  the  main-stay  of  her  national 
wealth,  have  never  been  entirely  free 
from  this  terrible  pest. 

It  seems  that  this  year  the  plague  is 
even  more  than  usually  virulent,  and 
that  the  vine  crop,  which  under  the  ge- 
nial influence  of  the  comet,  oug*ht  to 
have  far  exceeded  the  usual  average 
both  in  quantity  and  in  quality,  is  past 
all  hope.  So  serious  indeed  is  the 
prospect,  that  the  government  of  Mar- 
shal MacMahon  has  offered  a  prize  of 
300,000  francs— or  about  $60,000— 
for  the  discovery  of  an  efficacious  and 
economical  way  of  either  destroying 
the  insect  or  preventing  its  ravages. 


EFFECT  OF  CARBONIC  ACID  AND  OXY- 
GEN ON  THE  GEOWTH  OF  PLANTS. 

The  effect  of  carbonic  acid  upon  the 
germination  of  seeds  and  upon  the  de- 
velopment of  chlorophyll  in  young 
plants  has  been  made  the  subject  of  in- 
vestigation by  Boehm.  Seeds  of  Sun- 
flower, Garden-cress,  Flax,  Poppy,  Oat, 
Barley,  Rye,  Knot-grass  and  Maize 
were  allowed  to  germinate  and  grow 
in  flasks  containing  mixtures  of  atmos- 
pheric air  and  carbonic  acid,  the  amount 
of  the  latter  varying  from  two  to  fifty 
per  cent,  in  the  different  flasks.  The 
latter  were  exposed  to  diffused  day- 
light, at  a  temperature  of  15°  to  22° 
centigrade.  The  injurious  effects  of 
carbonic  acid  on  germination,  observed 
by  Saussure,  were  here  confirmed.  As 
regards  the   effect  upon  the  develop- 


ment of  chlorophyll  in  the  young  plants, 
the  author  concludes  as  follows : 

"The  experiments  described  suffice, 
as  I  believe,  to  show  the  remarkably  in- 
jurious effect  of  carbonic  acid  gas  on 
the  verdure  and  growth  of  the  plants. 
The  presence  of  only  two  per  cent,  of 
carbonic  acid  in  the  air  becomes  notice- 
able, especially  by  its  effect  on  the 
formation  of  chlorophyll.  *  *  *  In  an 
atmosphere  which,  with  an  amount  of 
oxygen  equal  to  that  in  the  air,  con- 
tains one-half  carbonic  acid,  not  only 
was  there  no  growth,  but  the  plants  aft- 
er a  short  time  perished." 

This  effect  of  carbonic  acid  upon  the 
plantlet  while  living  at  the  expense  of 
the  reserve  nutriment  in  the  seed,  the 
author  regards  as  very  remarkable,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  green  leaves  in 
such  a  medium  decompose  the  carbon- 
ic acid  with  considerable  energy.  He 
remarks  : 

' '  Since  the  green  plants  are,  in  virtue 
of  their  capacity  for  decomposing  car- 
bonic acid,  in  condition  to  build  up 
their  substance  from  inorganic  material, 
they  create  for  themselves  at  the  same 
time  the  condition  of  growth  at  the  ex- 
pense of  material  already  assimilated." 

These  observations  have,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  the  author,  an  important  bear- 
ing upon  the  theory  that  before  and 
during  the  period  of  carboniferous  de- 
posits on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  the 
atmosphere  contained  very  much  more 
carbonic  acid  than  at  present.  He 
says : 

"  In  view  of  the  fact  that  plants  vis- 
ibly sicken  in  an  atmosphere  which  con- 
tains but  a  small  percentage  of  carbon- 
ic acid,  we  must  conclude  that  in  an  at- 
mosphere not  much  richer  in  carbonic 
acid  than  that  now  existing,  a  part,  at 
least,  of  the  present  vegetation  of  the 
earth  would  perish.  But  from  this, 
one  of  two  things  must  follow.     Either 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


83 


the  composition  of  the  terrestrial  atmos- 
phere must  always  have  remained  the 
same,  as  must  necessarily  be  inferred 
from  its  boundlessness;  or  as  it  seems 
to  me  more  probable,  plants  must  have 
existed  in  former  geologic  periods  capa- 
ble of  enduring  larger  amounts  of  car- 
bonic acid  in  the  atmosphere." 

Boehm  has  also  studied  the  effects  of 
pure  oxygen  upon  the  germination  of 
seeds.  Seeds  moistened  and  placed  in 
pure  oxygen,  at  ordinary  atmospheric 
pressure,  failed  to  pass  beyond  the  first 
stages  of  germination.  When,  howev- 
er, the  oxygen  was  diluted  with  four- 
fifths  of  its  volume  of  hydrogen,  and 
likewise  when  its  tension  was  decreased 
by  the  air-pump  to  about  one-fifth  of 
the  ordinary  atmospheric  pressure,  the 
seeds  germinated  as  well  as  in  ordinary 
air.  These  observations  are  quite  in 
accord  with  others  lately  made  by  Bert 
upon  the  influence  of  variations  in  at- 
mospheric pressure  upon  the  vital  phe- 
nomena of  plants.  The  experiments 
of  Bert  showed  that  the  germination  of 
seeds  in  ordinary  air  was  hindered  when 
the  pressure  was  increased  to  five  at- 
mospheres, and  that  it  failed  entirely 
in  an  atmosphere  of  pure  oxygen  at  or- 
dinary pressure  (a  nineteenth  to  a  seven- 
teenth of  one  atmosphere).  Too  large 
a  quantity,  or  too  high  a  tension  of 
oxygen  in  the  atmosphere  seems  to 
be  unfavorable  to  germination  of  seeds. 


The  Kalmia. —  our  native  Laurel — is 
often  admired  when  seen  in  masses  in 
our  forests;  but  few  know  its  beauty 
when  grouped  upon  the  lawn.  Its  fo- 
liage alone  would  suffice  to  charm,  and 
nothing  can  surpass  the  beauty  of  its 
clusters  in  early  June,  when  each  flow- 
er is  a  picture  whether  in  bud  or  in 
bloom,  for  the  delicate  rose  tint  of  its 
opening  or  the  pale  blush  of  its  matur- 
ity. 


TRAINING  PLANTS  AS  STANDARDS. 

BY     "WILLIAM   SUTHERLAND. 

The  training  of  plants  suitable  to  the 
decoration  of  lawns,  walks,  etc.,  par- 
ticularly for  city  gardens,  has  of  late 
years  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention. 
What  is  wanted  is  such  plants  as  are 
susceptible  of  being  trained  as  stand- 
ards (for  that  seems  to  be  the  favorite 
shape)  that  will  flower  freely  during  the 
summer  and  are  easily  lifted  in  the  fall. 
There  are  a  number  of  plants  possess- 
ing these  qualities.  First  in  the  list 
comes  the  Lantana,  which,  for  profusion 
of  blossom  and  variety  in  color,  is  one 
of  the  most  gorgeous  plants  we  have  in 
the  garden,  and  if  a  little  pains  is  tak- 
en to  train  them  at  first,  they  soon  am- 
ply repay  for  all  the  labor  spent  on 
them. 

The  first  Lantanas  I  ever  saw  trained 
as  standards  were  at  Isaac  Buchannan's, 
in  Astoria,  L.  I.,  about  eight  or  nine 
years  ago.  He  had  some  specimens 
with  three  or  four  feet  clear  stems 
probably  two  inches  in  diameter,  with 
heads  three  to  four  feet  through,  plant- 
ed out  each  side  of  his  main  walk. 
They  were  one  blaze  of  flowers,  forming 
one  of  the  most  attractive  features  of 
his  garden. 

As  the  Lantana  is  not  at  all  fastidious 
"as  to  soil  or  situation,  it  will  do  at  almost 
any  place,  if  there  is  plenty  of  sun;  but 
if  large  flowers  are  wished  for,  the  soil 
can  not  be  too  rich,  blossoming  as  it 
does  all  through  the  summer.  If  it 
has  been  planted  out,  its  branches 
should  be  well  shortened  back  a  few 
days  before  lifting. 

My  plan  for  forming  standards  has 
been  to  choose  only  the  strongest  cut- 
tings when  potted  off,  and  train  them 
up  to  a  single  stem,  carefully  pinching 
back  all  the  side  shoots,  and  when  four 
or  five  feet  in  height  allowing  them  to 


84 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOBTICTJLTUKIST. 


branch  out,  and  so  form  symmetrical 
dwarf  trees. 

All  the  strong-growing  Lantanas  read- 
ily form  good  stems,  and  the  weaker 
varieties,  such  as  Sellcnvii,  etc.,  can  be 
grafted  or  inarched  on  some  of  the 
stronger  kinds. 

Heliotropes  can  be  trained  in  the 
same  manner,  and  either  plunged  or 
planted  out.  By  cutting  them  well 
back  in  spring  and  watering  them  in 
dry  weather,  they  flower  freely  all  sum- 
mer, and  by  lifting  and  potting  them 
early  in  fall  and  cutting  the  branches 
well  back,  flower  freely  all  winter. 

Cupheas  grown  in  this  manner  form 
splendid  specimens,  doing  very  nicely 
on  their  own  stems;  but  grafting  Cu- 
phea  plalycentra  or  any  of  the  small- 
growing  kinds  on  Guphea  eminens  forms 
specimens  very  quickly. 

Abutilons  trained  as  standards,  if 
the  strong  branches  are  kept  pinched 
back  all  the  summer,  flower  freely  all 
winter.  The  small  growing  varieties  of 
Mesopotamicum  or  vexillarium  make 
splendid  specimens  trained  in  this 
manner  on  their  own  stems,  or  grafted 
—  vexillarium  grafted  on  Malakoff  and 
vexillarium  variegata  grafted  on  Thomp- 
sonii.  I  had  a  specimen  of  Abutilon 
vexillarium  thus  in  an  eight-inch  pot 
with  a  stem  four  feet  in  height,  its 
branches  drooping  down  to  the  rim  of 
the  pot,  forming  a  neat  little  weeping 
tree,  on  which  I  counted  450  blossoms 
out  at  once.  It  continued  to  bloom  al- 
most without  intermission.  Mr.  John 
Sherwood,  the  well-known  florist,  in- 
formed me  that  he  had  excluded  this 
plant  from  his  collection,  as,  on  account 
of  its  habit,  its  flowers  did  not  show  to 
advantage,  but  when  he  saw  my  speci- 
men he  thought  this  plan  was  the  only 
way  to  grow  it. 

Erythrinas,  Hibiscus,  Fuchsia,  Sal- 
vias, Aloysia,  Lemon,  Orange,  Olean- 


der, Myrtle,  Ficuses,  Azaleas,  etc.,  in 
fact  almost  any  of  the  hard -wooded 
plants,  can  be  trained  in  this  manner, 
and  either  grown  in  pots  or  planted  out 
in  summer,  soon  form  splendid  decora- 
tive plants,  either  for  the  garden  or  con- 
servatory.— Gardener's  Monthly. 


THE  PKOFITS  OF  FRUIT-GROWING. 

A  great  portion  of  the  land  in  Napa 
Valley  is  well  adapted  to  the  growing 
of  the  finest  fruits,  such  as  Prunes, 
Plums,  and  raisin  Grapes.  Now  that 
these  fruits  can  be  preserved  by  artifi- 
cial means  cheaply,  and  in  a  manner 
far  superior  to  the  sun-dried  article,  it 
might  be  well  for  our  farmers  and  oth- 
ers interested  to  look  into  this  matter, 
and  see  if  it  is  not  well  to  plant  a  por- 
tion of  their  lands  with  these  profita- 
ble fruits.  They  can  not  be  successfully 
raised  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
where  there  is  and  always  will  be  an 
unlimited  demand;  and,  to  show  the 
profit  of  the  culture  of  such  commer- 
cial fruits  in  connection  with  the  artifi- 
cial process  of  preservation,  we  respect- 
fully submit  the  following  estimate, 
clipped  from  a  pamphlet  published  by 
the  Alden  Fruit  Preserving  Company 
of  California:  "Take  the  Prune  for 
example.  At  fourteen  feet  apart,  222 
may  be  planted  to  the  acre.  The  writ- 
er has  seen  trees,  of  the  Petite  Prune 
d'Agen  (an  excellent  variety)  five  years 
old  from  the  bud,  bear  200  pounds  to 
the  tree.  These  Prunes  can  be  made 
into  an  article  far  superior  to  any  im- 
ported Prunes,  at  a  cost  not  exceeding 
three  cents  per  pound.  This  would 
give  15,200  pounds  to  the  acre,  of  pre- 
served Prunes,  which,  at  twenty  cents 
per  pound,  would  give  $3,040  per  acre, 
or  about  $14  per  tree.  Deduct  from 
this  the  cost  of  curing,  three  cents  per 
pound,  or  $456  for  the  product  of  one 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


85 


acre,  less  the  cost  of  raising.  Those 
who  consider  these  estimates  too  high 
may  reduce  them  one-half,  and  still  it 
will  leave  a  handsome  return  for  the 
labor  and  capital  invested." — St.  Hele- 
na Star. 


OSAGE    OEANGE. 

The  agricultural  editor  of  the  Sacra- 
mento Record  advises  farmers  to  plant 
Osage  Orange  for  hedges  on  land  moist 
enough  to  support  that  plant;  and  adds 
that  he  speaks  from  experience,  having 
a  hedge  which  is  four  years  old,  and  has 
not  cost  more  than  half  as  much  as 
board  fence,  and  will  not  cost  so  much 
hereafter  as  the  repairs  of  a  board  fence 
would.  These  statements  are,  we  pre- 
sume, true;  but  that  they  justify  his  ad- 
vice we  doubt;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  Record  will,  in  a  future  article, 
give  a  detailed  explanation  of  the  soil, 
growth,  and  expenditures,  so  as  to  en- 
able us  to  form  our  own  judgment  from 
the  facts.  The  fences"  of  California 
have  cost  about  $30,000,000,  and  the 
annual  expense  of  interest  and  repairs 
is  estimated  at  $5,000,000;  so  that  the 
question  is  one  of  much  importance. 
The  Osage  Orange  hedge  is  not  new  in 
California.  It  has  been  cultivated  for 
twenty  years;  and  we  have  yet  to  find  a 
man  who  has  used  it  for  inclosing  a 
large  farm.  Some  of  the  plants  die  in 
the  first  start;  others  are  killed  by  the 
squirrels  and  gophers;  the  new  plants 
set  out  to  fill  vacancies  are  stunted  by 
the  older  ones;  the  hedge  is  of  no  value 
for  several  years;  it  may  die  out  in  dry 
years,  and  so  on,  through  a  number  of 
objections,  including  one  that  the  train- 
ing and  trimming  are  considered  far 
more  expensive  than  the  repairing  of  a 
board  fence.  This  objection  against  the 
Osage  Orange  may  be  erroneous,  but  it 
is  not  to  be  upset  on  the  authority  of  a 


single  person  who  does  not  undertake 
to  show  the  errors,  if  any,  on  which  the 
general  opinion  is  based.  The  Record 
adds: 

"It  is  true  there  are  portions  of  our 
State  where  the  Osage  Orange  would 
need  irrigation  to  render  it  available  or 
valuable  for  fencing,  but  we  are  assured 
that  for  all  such  localities  we  have  a  na- 
tive shrub  growing  on  all  our  foot-hills 
that  may  be  substituted  for  the  Osage 
Orange.  This  shrub  is  the  native  Box 
or  chaparral.  This  shrub  has  been  ex- 
perimented with  on  the  rolling  lands  of 
Placer  County  by  a  gentleman  of  great 
experience,  and  very  careful  and  cor- 
rect habits  of  observation,  and  he  pro- 
nounces it  a  complete  success  as  a 
hedge-plant  on  all  the  foot-hill  and  dry 
agricultural  or  wheat  lands  of  the  State . 
He  has  a  hedge  now,  four  years  old  from 
the  seed  which  were  planted  where  the 
hedge  now  stands,  which  he  says  will 
turn  any  stock,  from  a  rabbit  to  a  Span- 
ish bull  or  California  mustansr." 

This  advice  is  worthy  of  considera- 
tion. The  native  Box  seems  to  be  desig- 
nated by  nature  as  a  hedge-plant  for 
our  foot-hills,  where  fencing  is  more  ex- 
pensive than  in  the  valleys.  — Alia. 


Fkttit- trees  in  Bloom. — The  rapid 
development  of  the  season  is  now  seen 
in  all  warm  and  sheltered  districts  in 
this  region.  In  Solano,  Suisun,  Napa 
and  Sonoma,  since  the  rains,  the  grains 
and  grasses  have  grown  as  rapidly  as 
"Jonah's  gourd,"  and  in  these  regions 
the  Almond  and  Plum  trees  are  burst- 
ing into  bloom.  Most  fortunate  has  it 
been  for  our  fruit  crop,  that  we  have 
had  cold  weather  and  no  rains  till  re- 
cently. Now  we  trust  we  may  escape 
later  frosts,  and  thus  our  fruit  may  be 
saved  from  a  check.  Thus  far  every- 
thing bids  fair  for  an  immense  crop  of 
fruit  of  all  kinds. 


86 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


ISLANDS  OF  JAPAN.— PLANTING  TKEES. 

The  bluffs,  hills,  and  mountains  in 
every  part  of  the  Japanese  empire  are 
covered  with  forests  of  Pine,  Cedar, 
Fir,  Cypress,  Beech,  Birch,  Maple, 
Oak,  Bamboo,  Palm,  and  in  fact  al- 
most every  variety  of  tree  or  shrub 
known  in  the  temperate  and  tropical 
climates,  which  meet  and  blend  so  per- 
fectly there  that  their  influence  upon 
the  climate  and  rain-fall  must  not  be 
overlooked.  In  this  connection  it  may 
be  proper  to  say  that  these  uncivilized 
people,  as  they  are  called,  have  adopt- 
ed a  policy  the  very  converse  of  that 
followed  in  America  and  Europe  in  re- 
lation to  these  protecting  coverings  of 
nature.  The  Japanese  government  has 
preserved  the  forests,  and  in  fact  in- 
sured their  increase.  No  license  to  cut 
down  a  tree  is  granted,  except  upon  con- 
dition that  three  more  shall  be  planted 
and  grown  in  its  stead.  If  we  can  not 
do  this  in  America  or  in  this  State  es- 
pecially, let  us  at  any  rate  take  the  next 
step  best  in  the  matter — that  is,  for  the 
legislature  to  offer  an  adequate  premi- 
um to  our  farmers  for  planting  out  and 
cultivating  a  certain  number  of  acres  in 
the  finest  and  most  valuable  timber 
trees;  and  none,  perhaps,  would  an- 
swer better  for  shelter  and  wood  and  all 
purposes  than  the  Blue  Gum  or  its  con- 
geners. It  is  a  great  pity  that  some- 
thing can  not  be  done  immediately  to 
cover  so  many  bare  tracts  that  we  have, 
with  incipient  forests  and  rows  of  use- 
ful ornamental  trees.  One  feature  in 
tree -planting  needing  legislative  en- 
couragement, which  we  trust  will  receive 
proper  attention  at  an  early  day,  is  the 
planting  of  trees  along  the  highways. 
Nothing  would  add  so  much  to  the 
beauty  of  our  many  barren  landscapes, 
as  avenues  of  lofty  trees  and  hedge- 
rows.    The    grateful    shade   the   trees 


would  afford  would  be  appreciated  by 
every  traveler,  and  growing  as  they 
Would  on  land  that  Otherwise  would 
waste  or  grow  up  in  weeds,  the  return 
from  the  only  expense,  planting,  would 
be  certainly  most  satisfactory. 


THE  CATALPA  AS  A  TIMBER  TEEE. 

There  appears  to  be  no  doubt,  from 
all  the  evidence,  that  the  timber  of  the 
Catalpa  is  of  the  most  durable  kind. 
Some  which  has  been  in  use  for  many 
years  in  Delaware  and  other  places,  has 
proved  the  equal  of  Chestnut  when  used 
as  posts,  and  in  other  particulars  it  has 
been  found  of  great  value.  It  is  re- 
markable that  in  the  great  talk  of  a  few 
past  years  on  valuable  timber  trees,  the 
Catalpa  should  have  had  very  little  said 
about  it,  and  yet  it  is  almost  equal  to  a 
Cottonwood  in  rapidity  of  growth,  and 
will  grow  and  do  well  in  almost  any 
soil. 

In  books  on  trees  it  is  often  said  that 
the  Buttonwood  is  the  largest-growing 
tree  east  of  the  Mississippi  River.  Per- 
haps this  is  true  when  we  regard  the 
length  of  the  bole  as  well  as  the  size  of 
the  trunk;  but  in  absolute  growth,  we 
think  it  is  quite  likely  the  Catalpa 
would  often  equal  it.  In  the  drives 
around  Germantown  one  may  often  pass 
specimens  with  trunks  probably  fifteen 
or_  eighteen  feet  in  circumference. 
There  is  one  on  the  Johnson  estate,  and 
another  on  the  old  battle-ground  at 
Chew's,  which  appear  in  passing  to  be 
between  the  two  figures  named.  Per- 
haps it  has  not  received  the  attention 
its  good  timber  and  rapid  growth  de- 
serve, because  when  young  it  loses  the 
upper  portion  of  its  leaders  in  the  win- 
ter season,  and  thus  does  not  make  a 
straight  bole.  The  trees  we  see  natu- 
rally all  seem  to   have  a  tendency  to 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


87 


branch  low  on  this  account.  But  a 
friend  who  has  had  experience  in  tim- 
ber-growing tells  us  this  is  easily  reme- 
died by  cutting  back  the  first  or  some- 
times the  second  year's  growth.  A 
young  plant  from  seed  sown  in  April 
will  often  make  a  growth  of  four  feet 
the  first  season.  If  so  left,  the  leading 
bud  dies,  and  it  branches  at  this  point; 
but  if  it  is  cut  back  to  the  ground,  it 
will  next  year  throw  up  a  straight  stem 
eight  or  ten  feet  high,  and  very  little 
dies  away — not  enough,  in  fact,  to  in- 
terfere with  the  straight  growth  of  the 
main  trunk;  and  in  this  way  a  valuable 
timber  tree 'is  assured. 

This  hint  is  valuable  as  applicable  to 
many  other  trees,  for  most  are  apt  to 
branch  and  become  crooked  when  grow- 
ing the  first  year  or  two  from  seed;  but 
cut  back  in  this  way,  they  push  up  the 
next  season  straight  and  strong  for  sev- 
eral feet. 

In  regard  to  the  growth  of  the  Catal- 
pa,  we  examined  a  young  one  recently 
cut  down,  in  which  the  annual  rings  of 
wood  were  some  of  them  between  a 
quarter  to  half  an  inch  thick — a  rate  of 
growth  few  things  could  excel. 

In  some  respects  the  Catalpa  is  su- 
perior to  Locust,  for  that  wood  is  too 
hard  to  contract  after  the  iron  nail, 
heated  by  the  sun,  contracts  in  the  fall, 
and  thus  permits  the  nail  to  become 
loose;  but  to  this  we  can  nail  as  secure- 
ly as  to  the  Chestnut  post — which  in- 
deed this  wood  much  resembles. — Ger- 
mantown  Telegraph. 

Grapes  for  Raisins.  —  Last  season 
General  Bidwell,  on  his  estate  of  22,- 
000  acres,  planted  110,000  Grapevines 
of  the  White  Muscat  of  Alexandria, 
the  great  raisin  Grape  of  California. 
He  commenced  making  raisins  of  this 
Grape  last  fall,  and  those  he  has  on 
hand  now  are  certainly  as  fine  as  any 
Malaga  raisins  can  be.  He  is  also 
cultivating  the  Almond  largely. 


TO    DESTEOY    TEE     GEOUND     MOLE— 
"IN  A  HORN." 

It  may  be  said  that  the  most  effectual 
way  to  destroy  the  ground  mole  is  to 
kill  him  stone-dead.  But  in  order  to 
do  this,  he  must  first  be  got  hold  of, 
which  feat  may  be  accomplished  in  di- 
vers ways.  Perhaps  the  most  amusing 
is  to  "horn"  him. 

Procure  a  wagon-load,  or  such  a  mat- 
ter, of  horns  from  the  tannery;  select 
the  localities  most  infested,  and,  care- 
fully removing  the  earth  from  over  the 
tunnel,  place  the  big  end  of  a  horn 
longitudinally  in  the  bottom  of  the  tun- 
nel, so  that  if  he  come  from  the  direc- 
tion opposite  the  mouth  of  the  horn,  he 
will  enter  it. 

A  short  distance  from  this,  place  an- 
other, in  the  same  track,  with  the  little 
end  pointing  toward  the  little  end  of 
the  one  first  placed,  so  as  to  catch  him, 
be  he  coming  east  or  west.  Continue 
the  work  in  this  way  till  you  have  as 
many  placed  as  you  can  attend  to;  then 
keep  a  vigilant  eye  on  the  little  ends  of 
the  horns,  and  when  you  observe  the 
little  end  of  one  faintly  wriggling,  re- 
move it  dextrously ,  and  you  have  a  mole. 
Dispatch  him  and  replace  the  horn,  for 
his  boon  companion  will  soon  be  along. 

When  you  try  this,  you  will  find  that 
a  mole  has  no  idea  of  "going  round 
the  horn,"  but  will  fearlessly  enter  the 
big  end,  and  make  a  desperate  effort  to 
' '  come  out  at  the  little  end  of  the  horn." 

A  hundred  horns  judiciously  placed 
in  a  ten-acre  field,  where  moles  are 
plenty,  will  take  in,  perhaps,  fifty  a 
day.  This  occupation  is  very  attract- 
ive to  the  average  small  boy,  and  it  is 
about  the  only  way  he  can  be  made 
available  in  the  country.  If  you  are  in 
the  habit  of  using  the  prevalent  excla- 
mation, "Ina  horn!"  here  is  the  place 
to  put  it  in. — Cincinnati  Times. 


88 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTTJKIST. 


PLANTS  FOB  HEDGING. 

No.  1. — Is  Esteditschia  Monosperma,  a 
variety  of  the  Honey  Locust.  It  is  a 
native  of  South.  Carolina  to  Florida; 
found  mostly  in  the  swamps,  and  not 
common.  It  grows  quite  as  well  in 
dry  soils,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
its  native  situation  is  wet.  It  is  not  as 
strong  a  grower  as  the  Honey  Locust, 
consequently  better  adapted  for  hedges. 
If  kept  closely  clipped  for  the  first  two 
years,  it  seems  almost  impossible  for 
cattle  to  effect  an  entrance  through  it. 
It  is  not  suited  to  small  places.  Handl- 
ers and  large  farmers  will  find  it  a  great 
acquisition.  It  will  grow  in  the  salt 
water  or  in  places  washed  by  the  spray 
of  the  ocean,  where  no  other  tree  will 
grow. 

No.  2. — Escallonia  alba,  makes  a  very 
nice  hedge  in  a  small  place;  is  a  good, 
close  grower,  and  of  nice  habit.  There 
are  other  varieties  of  the  Escallonia, 
such  as  Rubra,  Macranlha,  etc.;  but 
these  are  better  adapted  for  training  on 
walls,  trellises,  etc. 

No.  3 — Is  the  Mesquit-Tree;  a  native 
of  Texas,  Mexico,  and  Arizona.  This 
tree  is  an  evergreen,  and  resembles  the 
Peach  in  appearance.  It  is  grown  for 
feed  as  well  as  for  hedges,  producing  a 
pod  similar  to  the  common  garden  Bean. 
The  pods  are  much  used  by  Indians  for 
food,  while  horses  and  cattle  fatten  on 
them  readily. 

No.  4. — Is  Cercis  Canadensis,  com- 
monly called  the  Judas-tree,  from  the 
fact  that  Gerard,  the  author,  asserts 
that  it  was  on  the  Cercis  that  Judas 
hung  himself.  It  grows  to  a  medium- 
sized  tree,  say  fifteen  to  twenty  feet, 
under  proper  cultivation.  As  a  hedge- 
plant  it  is  not  much  known,  and  its 
only  main  recommendation,  in  our 
opinion,  would  be  its  oddity — flower- 
ing in  early  spring  in  great  profusion 


before  the  sign  of  a  leaf  can  be  observ- 
ed on  any  portion  of  its  body  and  limbs, 
and  continuing  in  flower  until  hidden 
by  the  leaves.  The  color  of  the  flowers 
is  of  the  richest  purple,  and  in  a  nice- 
ly kept  hedge  would  resemble  a  purple 
band.  In  artistic  landscapes  a  hedge 
of  it  would  be  very  appropriate. — Pa- 
cific Rural. 


EAISIN  CULTUEE. 

Among  other  industries  we  have  oft- 
en impressed  upon  our  foot-hill  farm- 
ers the  importance  of  making  raisins. 
Wine-making,  to  be  successful,  requires 
some  capital,  but  anyone  possessed  of 
a  few  acres  of  ground  can  grow  and 
cure  raisins  as  an  incident  to  their  oth- 
er business,  or  can  go  into  the  business, 
if  desirable,  with  but  a  limited  amount 
of  money.  Several  of  our  foot  -  hill 
farmers  have  been  engaged  in  making 
raisins  on  a  small  scale  for  several 
years,  and  they  all  agree  that  it  is  both 
a  pleasant  and  profitable  pursuit.  The 
early  rains  last  fall  destroyed  the  bulk 
of  the  raisins  then  in  process  of  drying, 
but  such  rains  are  an  unusual  occur- 
rence. From  different  ones  who  have 
had  some  experience,  we  glean  the  fol- 
lowing facts  in  reference  to  the  busi- 
ness :  The  Muscat  of  Alexandria  is  the 
best  Grape  for  raisins,  and  those  grown 
in  the  foot-hills,  with  little  or  no  irriga- 
gation,  are  the  best.  Any  of  the  foot- 
hill lands  will  produce  the  Grape,  and 
the  only  irrigation  required  is  while  the 
vine  is  gaining  a  start.  Lands  suitable 
for  vines  can  be  bought  for  $2.50  to  $5 
an  acre.  It  will  cost  from  $15  to  $25 
per  acre  to  clear  and  fence,  but  land  al- 
ready under  cultivation  can  be  bought 
for  about  that  sum.  The  vines  are  usu- 
ally propagated  from  cuttings,  by  the 
vineyardist,  and,  at  one  year  old,  when 


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THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


89 


ready  to  transplant,  will  cost  about  three 
cents  each.  If  bought  at  that  age,  how- 
ever, they  will  generally  cost  five  cents. 
They  should  be  set  six  feet  apart  each 
way,  giving  about  1,200  vines  to  the 
acre.  The  cultivation  is  the  same  given 
to  Corn  and  Potatoes,  and  the  better 
and  more  thorough  it  is  the  larger  the 
crop.  The  Muscat  begins  bearing  very 
early,  and  after  its  fourth  year,  if  proper- 
ly attended  to,  may  be  counted  on  for 
about  fifteen  pounds  to  the  vine,  or 
about  eight  tons  to  the  acre.  In  dry- 
ing, the  Grapes  lose  three-fifths  of  their 
weight,  one  hundred  pounds  of  fresh 
Grapes  making  forty  pounds  of  raisins. 
H.  B.  Allen,  living  six  miles  east  of 
Rockland,  in  the  foot-hills  of  this  coun- 
ty, has  been  engaged  in  a  small  way  for 
several  years  in  making  raisins  from  the 
Muscat.  Being  engaged  in  gardening 
and  fruit-growing,  he  sells  his  product 
to  his  neighbors,  and  readily  gets  16f 
cents  per  pound  at  wholesale.  At  that 
rate  the  product  of  an  acre  would  bring 
at  least  $750.  The  labor  of  gathering 
and  drying  is  not  great.  The  Grapes 
should  be  allowed  to  get  fully  ripe,  and 
when  gathered,  all  defective  ones  should 
be  removed.  Drying  in  the  sun  is  a  te- 
dious operation,  requiring  considerable 
attention,  but  involving  the  outlay  of 
no  capital.  There  is  of  course  some 
risk  of  damage  by  rain,  but  generally 
the  whole  crop  can  be  disposed  of  be- 
fore the  fall  rains  set  in.  The  Alden 
Dryer  makes  raisins  of  excellent  quality, 
drying  the  Grape  with  great  rapidity 
and  in  the  very  best  manner.  As  the 
Alden  machine  with  the  necessary 
buildings  costs  some  $3,000,  a  consid- 
erable business  must  be  done  to  justify 
its  use,  though  a  number  of  growers 
can  combine  in  its  erection  and  divide 
the  expense.  There  is  no  reason  why 
the  foot-hills  of  Placer  County  could 
not  supply  the  whole  coast  with  all  the 

Vol.  V.— 12. 


raisins  it  can  consume,  besides  shipping 

car-loads  to  the  Eastern  States.     They 

are  easily  produced,  and  the  market  for 

them  is  practically   unlimited. — Placer 

Argus. 

■+-++ 

Skeleton  Leaves.  —  Leaves  to  be 
skeletonized  should  be  gathered  only 
during  dry  weather,  and  they  should 
also  be  perfectly  matured,  July  and 
August  being  the  best  months  to  gath- 
er them.  Among  the  choicest  varieties 
are  Pine,  Poplar, Beech,  and  Ivy  leaves. 
Dissolve  four  ounces  of  washing  soda 
in  one  quart  of  boiling  water;  add  two 
ounces  of  quick  lime  and  boil  fifteen 
minutes;  allow  this  to  cool;  then  pour 
off  the  clear  liquor  into  a  clean  sauce- 
pan, and  when  at  a  boiling  point  place 
the  leaves  in  carefully  and  boil  one 
hour;  boiling  water  should  be  added 
occasionally  to  supply  that  lost  by 
evaporation.  If  after  boiling  one  hour 
the  cellular  tissue  does  not  rub  off  be- 
tween the  thumb  and  finger,  boil  them 
till  it  will,  always  placing  the  leaves  in 
cold  water  to  separate  the  fleshy  matter 
from  the  skeleton.  Bleach  the  skele- 
tons by  putting  them  in  a  solution  of 
one  quart  of  water,  a  large  tablespoon- 
ful  of  chloiide  of  lime,  and  a  few  drops 
of  vinegar;  let  them  remain  in  twenty 
minutes,  and  then  remove  and  dry  be- 
tween sheets  of  white  blotting-paper, 
beneath  a  gentle  pressure. 


Clematis  Integrifolia,  or  the  entire- 
leaved  Clematis.  A  low-growing  plant, 
with  fine  blue  flowers  bordered  with 
white.  The  greater  part  of  the  species 
of  Clematis  are  climbing  plants,  but 
there  are  a  few  with  erect,  self-sustain- 
ing stems,  like  the  one  named,  which  I 
consider  the  most  showy,  although  the 
small  white-flowering  G.  erecta  is  quite 
pretty. — The  Horticulturist. 


90 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOBTICTTLTUKIST. 


(&&itMM  WMtUWmt. 


A  HINT 

TO    THE    HANAGEBS    OF    THE    HOETICTJLTTJEAIi    DE- 

PAETMENT   OF    THE     EXHIBITION    OF    THE 

MECHANICS'    INSTITUTE    THIS  TEAE. 

With  a  view  to  encourage  Horticult- 
ure among  the  people  of  this  great  and 
generally  improving  city,  it  would  be 
well  for  the  directors  or  committee  of 
the  floral  department  of  the  Fair  to  dis- 
tribute as  soon  as  possible,  among  ap- 
plicants, both  children  and  adults — es- 
pecially ladies — a  variety  of  flowers  in 
five-inch  pots.  The  person  who  at  the 
coming  exhibition  in  the  summer  shows 
his  or  hers  in  the  best  condition  shall 
receive  as  a  premium  a  certain  number  of 
bedding-plants.  The  second-best  spec- 
imen calls  for  a  less  number,  and  the 
third  for  a  lesser  number  in  proportion. 
The  bedding-plants  to  be  suitable  for 
out-door  planting  in  the  fall. 

This  plan  has  been  frequently  prac- 
ticed in  foreign  cities  and  villages,  with 
the  best  results.  "Will  not  other  socie- 
ties take  a  forward  step  in  this  direc- 
tion and  introduce  and  encourage  Flor- 
iculture in  this  city  and  country  ? 

"The  object  of  every  horticultural  so- 
ciety, in  particular,  should  be  to  en- 
courage and  promote  the  cultivation, 
improvement,  and  exhibition  of  fruits 
vegetables,  and  flowers.  All  of  these 
interests  have  not  been  treated  with 
that  consideration  by  the  Bay  District 
Horticultural  Society  which  they  so 
richly  deserve,  and  which  their  impor- 
tance demands.  With  respect  to  flow- 
ers, the  following  question  seems  to  be 
to  the  point  for  anybody  having  a  home, 
to  answer : 

"  Will  it  pay  me  to  beautify  my  home 
with  flowers  and  shrubbery?  There  are 
few  persons  who  can  not  afford  to  in- 
vest a  small  sum  in  a  few  Bose-bushes 
or  other  ornamental  plants  to  start  with, 


and  in  a  short  time  they  will  be  well  re- 
paid for  their  slight  expenditure  and 
trouble.  Anything  which  adds  to  the 
beauty  and  cheerfulness  of  a  home  adds 
to  its  permanent  value.  There  are  ma- 
ny gems  in  the  floral  creation  which, 
when  once  implanted  in  the  soil,  will 
continue  to  grow  in  beauty  year  after 
year,  and  remain  joys  forever  to  the 
fortunate  possessor.  All  will  admit 
that  this  department  of  nature  is  well 
worthy  the  study  of  man.  'Flowers 
are  not  the  trifles  which  many  think 
them  to  be,  or  God  would  not  have  be- 
stowed the  care  on  them  that  he  did.'" 


THE  VICAR  OF  WINKFIELD. 

This  Pear  (also  called  the  Wakefield) 
is  a  good  deal  cultivated  in  California, 
and  it  deserves  to  be  so,  as  some  of  its 
qualities .  are  quite  valuable.  It  grows 
to  a  large  size,  the  tree  is  hardy,  of  vig- 
orous growth,  and  yields  very  large 
crops,  and,  for  the  table,  when  cooked, 
it  is  one  of  the  very  best  baking  Pears. 
This  fruit  can  not  be  classed,  to  be  sure, 
among  those  of  the  richest  of  flavor,  but 
is  still  a  tolerably  desirable  one  for  eat- 
ing. It  requires  a  medium  rich  dry 
soil  to  bring  it  forward  to  a  good  size, 
and  to  be  fully  ripe  before  picking.  The 
tree  should  be  well  exposed  to  the  sun. 
Taking  it  in  all  its  characteristics,  not 
many  Pears  have  been  so  much  con- 
demned or  so  much  praised — praised  by 
those  who  have  had  patience  with  it, 
and  condemned  by  those  who  have  not 
known  how  to  treat  it,  or  whose  soil  is 
not  favorable  for  its  proper  maturity; 
but  this  can  hardly  ever  be  the  case  in 
California,  as  we  have  no  frosts  severe 
enough  to  affect  it.  In  the  East  some 
have  declared  it  to  be  the  best  winter 
Pear  they  had,  taking  it  all  in  all.  But 
here  our  climate  is  so  favorable  for  all 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


91 


fruit  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  that  we 
have  many  other  very  excellent  winter 
Pears  that  come  to  perfection;  whereas 
in  the  East,  comparatively,  they  have 
but  few  that  arrive  at  a  completely  de- 
licious condition  on  account  often  of 
extreme  cold,  and  great  changes  of 
weather. 

The  Vicar  should  be  left  hanging  till 
quite  late  in  the  fall,  and  placed  in 
good  boxes,  and  kept  for  some  length 
of  time  till  it  becomes  of  rather  a  yel- 
lowish tinge ;  and  then  with  its  general- 
ly fine  blush  toward  the  sun  it  is  a 
handsome  fruit.  Our  climate  is  very 
favorable  for  this  rather  uncertain  and 
capricious  variety. 


THE     SEALS    AND    WOODWAKD'S  GAE- 
DENS. 

We  believe  within  the  last  two  or 
three  years  Mr.  Woodward  has  had  in 
his  Gardens  one  or  more  specimens  of 
the  fur-seal,  but  he  has  none  of  this 
interesting  species  of  the  seal  at  pres- 
ent in  his  ponds. 

These  animals  have  a  wide  geographi- 
cal range  north  and  south.  They  are 
numerous,  and  are  a  source  of  great 
commercial  wealth. 

We  shall  have  again  to  be  indebted 
chiefly  to  Captain  Scammon  in  his  valu- 
able work  on  Marine  Mammals,  for  in- 
formation regarding  these  curious  creat- 
ures. 

We  present  our  readers,  in  our  current 
number,  with  two  more  zincographic 
plates — one  depicting  a  full-aged  male 
fur-seal,  of  St.  Paul's  Island,  and  the 
other  the   head   of   a  female  fur-seal. 

The  color  of  the  full-grown  males  is 
dark  brown,  and  the  white  hairs  on  the 
younger  ones  give  them  a  silvery  lustre. 
When  the  season  of  seal-killing  begins, 
they  are  very  fat,  and  when  it  ends 
they  are  very  lean.     When  in  full  flesh, 


the  adult  females  weigh  about  eighty- 
five  pounds.  The  male  (engraving  No.  1) 
presents  a  surly  expression,  "  ever  pres- 
ent," as  Captain  Scammon  says,  "with 
those  veterans  who  have  fought  for 
prestige  upon  the  rookeries  many  suc- 
cessive seasons." 

It  is  very  uncommon  for  the  female 
to  have  more  than  one  pup.  Besides, 
the  fat  of  the  fur-seal  is  an  object  with 
the  native,  being  valuable  for  light  and 
heat.  The  flesh,  also,  affords  them  a 
staple  article  of  food.  In  former  times 
they  existed  in  such  immense  numbers, 
that,  on  the  coast  of  Chile,  one  vessel, 
after  loading  with  choice  skins,  was 
supposed  to  have  left  on  the  island  500,- 
000  seals. 

Their  food  consists  of  fish,  and  a  va- 
riety of  other  marine  productions,  and 
small  stones  or  pebbles  are  found  in 
their  maws.  The  females  have  great 
affection  for  their  young.  Many  years 
ago  they  were  killed  with  the  ordinary 
seal-club,  and  large  numbers  formerly 
gathered  on  the  coast  of  California. 
The  Indians  use  spears  attached  to 
lines  to  kill  them  with.  At  the  present 
time  the  number  taken  annually  is 
about  150,000.  The  price  of  the  skins 
in  Europe  average  $8  to  $9  each. 


American  Pomological  Society. — We 
take  much  pleasure  in  notifying  our 
fruit  brethren  of  the  Pacific  Coast  that 
this  national  institution  holds  its  next 
biennial  meeting  at  Chicago,  Sept.  8th, 
9th,  and  10th.  We  trust  that  our  or- 
chardists  will  respond  handsomely  and 
energetically  to  this  call,  by  sending  a 
good  delegation  with  the  best  speci- 
mens of  California  fruits  to  that  impor- 
tant meeting  of  national  pomologists. 
The  president  is  that  most  worthy  and 
enlightened  amateur  horticulturist  and 
fruit  culturist,  Honorable  Marshall  P. 
Wilder. 


92 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


ElTBEEA   NdSSEBY,    NEAB    GOLDEN   GATE    PaBK. 


The  above  engraving  shows  the  neat 
and  handsome  establishment  and  re- 
constructed greenhouses  of  E.  Meter, 
proprietor  of  the  Eureka  Nursery,  near 
Golden  Gate  Park.  Mr.  Meyer  is  one 
of  our  foremost  nurserymen  and  florists. 
See  notice  of  his  catalogue  on  another 

page. 

♦ ■ 

PERSONAL. 

Mr.  F.  .A  Miller,  of  the  firm  of  Mil- 
ler &  Sievers,  will  in  a  few  days  depart 
for  the  East  and  Europe,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  visiting  and  examining  all  the 
leading  nurseries  and  public  gardens. 
The  object  of  his  visit  is  the  introduc- 
tion into  California  of  all  plants,  orna- 
mental as  well  as  useful,  which  may 
come  favorably  to  his  notice  and  which 
may  be  adapted  to  this  coast.  He  will 
visit  the  following  cities:  Chicago,  St. 
Louis,  Philadelphia,  Washington,  New 
York,  and  Rochester;  and  will  then 
proceed  to  Hamburg,  Bremen,  Berlin, 
Erfurt,  Dresden,  Frankfort,  Baden, 
Haarlem,  Ghent,  Paris,  and  London. 
If  we  are  not  mistaken,  his  journey 
will  result  in  the  introduction  of  many 
valuable  acquisitions. 

Another  object  of  his  visit  is  to  estab- 
lish permanent  business  relations  with 
Eastern  and  European  houses,  in  re- 


gard to  the  exportation  of  plants,  bulbs, 
and  seeds  indigenous  to  this  coast  and 
the  Pacific  islands. 


HOW    TO    DESTROY  AND  GET  RID 
SLUGS. 


OF 


Mr.  D.  C.  Arthur,  of  Oakland,  a  lover 
of  flowers  and  Horticulture  generally,  in- 
forms us  that  his  Hyacinths  this  spring 
have  been  troubled  and  some  of  them 
destroyed  by  slugs,  which  are  among 
the  most  annoying  of  California  garden 
pests.  In  order  to  rid  himself  of  them 
completely,  if  possible,  he  took  a  lan- 
tern, between  the  hours  of  nine  and 
twelve  at  night,  and  searched  for  them. 
He  found  bunches  of  these  slugs  feed- 
ing on  the  tops  of  his  plants,  as  they 
were  just  coming  up  out  of  the  ground, 
and  so  killed  them  all.  These  creatures 
can  not  easily  be  found  in  the  day-time, 
but  are  night  -  feeders.  Quick-lime  is 
found  to  be  somewhat  efficacious  against 
them,  when  sprinkled  over  the  ground 
around  plants. 

Vibtjp^^m  Awafhrki. — Of  all  the  brill- 
iantly colored  autumnal  plants  we  have 
ever  seen,  the  plant  above  named  is  the 
finest.  Some  of  its  leaves  are  now  of 
a  bright  rose  color. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


93 


OUR  FRONTISPIECE. 

We  embellish  our  work  this  month 
with  two  graceful,  neat  and  well-drawn 
cuts,  namely:  an  aged  Date-palm  (Phoe- 
nix dactyliferce)  and  a  row  of  giant  Fig- 
trees  (Ficus  carica  giganteus).  The  first 
named  is  found  growing  and  flourish- 
ing in  some  sheltered  locations  of  our 
State,  (especially  in  southern  tropical 
and  semi-tropical  California.  The  lat- 
ter tree  is  found  to  do  well  and  bear 
plentifully  in  all  parts  of  the  Pacific 
slope  except  toward  the  Sierra.  "We 
are  not  aware  of  the  Date-palm  having 
borne  fruit  here,  and  though  it  is  culti- 
vated as  far  to  the  north  as  41°  in  Spain, 
as  well  as  in  the  south  of  France,  in  It- 
aly, at  Athens,  and  at  Smyrna,  the  fruit 
does  not  ripen  there.  Its  true  native 
home  is  the  north  of  Africa,  Egypt, 
Nubia,  Syria,  Arabia  Felix,  and  Persia. 
Its  range  is  limited  toward  the  south 
in  the  old  world  by  the  region  of  equi- 
noctial rains.  A  sandy  and  well-water- 
ed soil  is  that  which  best  suits  this 
tree,  for  which  reason  it  is  found  al- 
ways in  the  great  African  deserts,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  springs.  It  con- 
stitutes almost  the  sole  means  of  sup- 
port to  nineteen-twentieths  of  the  pop- 
ulation of  Fezzan  during  nine  months 
of  the  year;  forming  the  food  of  stock 
as  well  as  of  man,  "the  oases  being 
bare  of  herbage."  These  Palms  are 
planted  in  Egypt  in  rows  along  the  ca- 
nals. They  seem  to  be  almost  limited 
to  the  sub-tropical  zone  throughout  the 
world  as  to  bearing  fruit  at  any  rate.  A 
lady  traveler,  Josephine  Clifford,  visit- 
ing semi-tropical  California,  which  is 
about  between  San  Miguel  Mission  in 
the  northern  portion,  and  San  Buena- 
ventura in  the  southern,  relates  that 
she  saw  a  Fig-tree  at  San  Luis  Obispo 
which  measured  three  feet  in  diameter 
near  the   base,   spread    to   seven   feet 


where  the  branches  set  in,  grew  forty 
feet  straight  up  from  the  ground,  and 
shaded  with  its  leaves  and  branches  a 
space  of  some  fifty  or  sixty  feet  across. 
Nor  did  it  stand  alone.  Beside  it  was 
one  almost  equally  gigantic,  then  fol- 
lowed two  or  three  smaller  ones — the 
whole,  no  doubt,  the  remains  of  a  Fig- 
avenue,  or  allee,  like  the  allees  of  Olives 
which  are  often  found  in  southern  Cali- 
fornia. 

The  Date-palm,  like  many  other 
trees  and  most  of  the  other  kinds  of 
Palms,  has  male  flowers  on  different 
plants  from  those  which  produce  the 
fruit,  and  there  is  a  necessity  for  some 
of  the  male  trees  to  grow  near  the  fe- 
male to  render  them  fruitful;  or,  at 
least,  to  impregnate  the  ovaiy  of  the 
seed,  without  which  the  pits,  which  are 
taken  out  of  the  fruit,  will  not  grow. 
In  other  words,  this  variety  of  the  Palm 
is  a  disecious  plant. 


The  Overland. — The  March  number 
of  this  first-clasjs  mag-azine  is  before  us. 
We  always  look  forward  with  expectant 
pleasure  to  its  monthly  issue,  contain- 
ing as  it  does  so  much  of  varied  interest 
on  many  general  practical  subjects;  be- 
ing rich,  also,  in  exciting  tales,  many  of 
which  are  of  essential  and  peculiar  val- 
ue as  relating  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  We 
can  find  but  few  papers  similar  to  them 
in  any  other  publication  of  the  kind. 
The  present  number  is  as  replete  as  ev- 
er with  many  useful  and  entertaining 
articles,  which  the  public  had  better 
judge  of  and  enjoy,  by  immediately  be- 
coming subscribers  to  the  work.  We 
need  not  here  enumerate  all  the  papers 
in  the  March  number,  but  we  can  con- 
scientiously urge  the  public  at  all 
events  to  examine  its  very  attractive  ta- 
ble of  contents:  "The  Policy  That 
Built  up  the  West,"  "Thorpe,  Cava- 


94 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


lier,"  "Glimpse  at  a  Central  American 
Republic,"  "To  the  Lion  of  Saint 
Mark,"  "The  Richard  Murray  Materi- 
alization," "Communism,"  "Cham- 
bers in  Charlotte  Street,"  "Discipline," 
"Modern  Civilization  a  Teutonic  Pro- 
duct," "That  Valentine,"  "Tobacco 
and  Sugar,"  "  Pioneer  Nig  Saul,"  "  Au- 
tobiography of  a  Philosopher,''  "The 
Friendships  of  Men  and  "Women,"  "  Pan 
Avenged,"  "  Toby  Rosenthal — How  he 
Became  a  Painter." 


CATALOGUES  EECEIVED. 

From  R.  J.  Trumbull's  Seed  Ware- 
house, 427  Sansome  Street:  "Guide  to 
the  Vegetable  and  Flower  Garden,  etc. 
Catalogue  of  Flower,  Vegetable,  Ag- 
ricultural and  Tree  Seeds,  Flowering 
Bulbs,  Flowering  Plants,  Fruit  and 
Ornamental  Trees  and  Shrubs;  Estab- 
lishment begun  in  1852."  This  Cata- 
logue and  Guide  is  handsomely  printed 
and  embellished  with  neat  engravings. 
It  is  one  of  the  best  gotten  up  on  our 
coast.  Mr.  Trumbull  is  an  extensive 
grower  of  the  Blue  Gum  (Eucalyptus 
globulus,  in  the  value  of  which  tree  he 
has  great  faith),  and  the  Eucalypti  fam- 
ily. He  has  given  the  public  instruc- 
tions how  to  raise  and  cultivate  these 
valuable  trees,  to  which  we  will  give  a 
place  in  the  next  number  of  the  Hort- 
iculturist. 

From  B.  F.  Wellington,  425  Wash- 
ington Street,  S.  F.:  "Catalogue  of 
Vegetable,  Flower,  and  Tree  Seeds, 
Bulbs,  etc.,  for  1875."  This  is  a  neat 
publication.  It  embraces  not  only  the 
most  noted  and  commonly  known  seeds 
adapted  to  California,  but  also  all  de- 
sirable native  seeds  of  Europe,  Austra- 
lia, New  Zealand,  Mexico,  South  Ameri- 
ca, Sandwich  Islands,  etc.  One  of  tbe 
greatest  demands  now  on  the  part  of 


the  agricultural  public  is  for  Alfalfa 
seed,  of  which  Mr.  Wellington  has  pro- 
vided himself,  to  meet  the  market,  with 
several  tons.  It  is  now  the  most  prof- 
itable feed  for  all  kinds  of  stock  on 
this  coast. 

From  J.  P.  Sweeny  &  Co.'s  Seed 
Warehouse,  Davis  Street,  San  Francis- 
co :  "Trade  List  of  Garden,  Flower  and 
Herb  Seeds;  also,  a  select  list  of  Glad- 
iolus and  other  Spring  Bulbs."  This 
firm  has  been  engaged  in  this  business 
for  twenty  years;  they  therefore  can  be 
fully  depended  upon. 

FromE.  Meyer:  "  General  Catalogue 
of  New  and  Rare  Ornamental  and  Flow- 
ering Plants,  Bulbs,  Seeds,  etc."  Eu- 
reka Nursery,  near  Golden  Gate  Park; 
Floral  Depot  27  Geary  Street,  near 
Kearny,  San  Francisco.  At  Mr.  Mey- 
er's sales-room  we  noticed  a  splendid 
and  varied  collection  of  double  and 
single  Hyacinths  in  pots.  They  are 
well  worth  visiting. 

From  Briggs  &  Brother:  As  usual,  a 
splendidly  illustrated  floral  quarterly, 
"Work  for  1875."  It  contains  two 
beautifully  drawn  and  colored  plates  of 
Phlox  Drummondii  grandiflora  splendens, 
and  Phlox  Drummondii  grandiflora  va- 
riegata.  These  are  some  of  the  most  use- 
ful and  brilliant  annuals  in  cultivation. 
They  have  a  great  range  of  bright  col- 
ors and  profusion  of  bloom,  and  the 
sorts  are  continually  increasing.  The 
flowers  of  these  Phloxes  are  very  large, 
of  glowing  and  distinct  colors,  with 
large,  clear,  conspicuous  white  eyes. 
All  varieties  of  flowers  that  can  not  be 
indorsed  by  this  firm  are  carefully  ex- 
cluded. 

From  R.  H.  Allen  &  Co.,  Nos.  189 
and  191  Water  Street,  New  York:  "An- 
nual Descriptive  Catalogue  of  Garden, 
Flower,  and  Field  Seeds,  and  Grains, 
for  1875,"  with  directions  for  location 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


95 


and  soil  for  a  garden:  frames  and  hot- 
beds, lawns,  etc.;  novelties  and  select 
vegetable  and  flower  seeds;  new  vari- 
eties of  Potatoes  for  1875,  and  orna- 
mental grasses,  etc. 

From  F.  K.  Phoenix,  Bloomington 
Nursery,  McClean  County,  Ills. :  "Plant 
Catalogue  and  Wholesale  Price  List." 
The  nurserv  contains  600  acres. 


NEW  AND  RAKE  PLANTS. 

New  Ferns. — Mr.  John  Muir,  geol- 
ogist, naturalist,  and  author  of  "Studies 
in  the  Sierra,"  informs  us  that  he  has 
lately  discovered  three  new  Ferns.  He 
also  met  with  the  Darlingtonia  Calif or- 
nica,  or  California  carnivorous  Pitcher- 
plant.  It  was  not  in  bloom,  being  in 
winter  when  he  saw  it,  but  in  the  faded 
flowers  he  observed  many  dead  grass- 
hoppers, butterflies,  moths,  and  other 
insects,  which  had  been  decoyed  to  their 
destruction  by  its  honey  sweets  and 
its  downward  inclined  hairy  chevaux  de 
/rise  as  they  may  perhaps  be  termed. 
Mr.  Muir  has  promised  to  give  us  a  de- 
scription of  this  insectivorous  curiosity, 
if  he  can  spare  the  time.  If  he  does, 
we  promise  our  readers  that  it  will  be 
probably  somewhat  poetical  or  imagin- 
ative, but,  according  to  his  wont,  strict- 
ly truthful  as  to  what  he  actually  ob- 
served. 

Weigela  Hortensis  Nivea.  —  There 
has  been  no  novelty  of  late  years  that 
we  deem  likely  to  be  of  a  more  lasting 
popular  character  than  this.  The  flow- 
ers are  white — not  the  white  of  so  many 
things,  which  is  neither  green,  nor  yel- 
low, nor  rose  —  nor  a  pale  edition  of 
some  of  them,  but  a  real  pure  snowy 
white.  The  common  Weigela  rosea  and 
W.  amabilis  are  well  known,  as  are  also 
the  various  kinds  between  them,  of 
which  probably  the  best  one  is  the  va= 


riety  Groewegenii,  which  has  a  very 
bright  rosy  tint  and  the  flowers  in  im- 
mense profusion  on  long  wand -like 
branches.  The  history  of  the  present 
one  is  unknown  to  us.  It  is  probably 
a  cross  between  W.  amabilis  and  W.  ro- 
sea, or  it  may  possibly  be  a  mere  seed- 
ling from  W.  amabilis  alone.  It  has 
more  of  its  character  than  of  the  other 
one,  including  its  tendency  to  bloom  in 
August  and  September  as  well  as  June. 
It  is  not  so  straggling  in  habit,  but  is  a 
well -formed  bush,  as  is  the  W.  rosea. 
It  came  to  American  nurseries  under 
the  name  of  W.  Hortensis  nivea,  or  Snow- 
white  Weigela  of  the  gardens,  which 
seems  to  indicate  that  its  precise  origin 
is  unknown. 

It  has  been  found  a  capital  plant  for 
winter-forcing,  where  pure-white  flow- 
ers are  desirable.  It  moves  very  well 
in  the  fall,  and  blossoms  as  freely  as  if 
not  transplanted,  while  a  very  moderate 
heat  brings  out  the  flowers.  These  are 
good  points  in  a  forcing  -  plant.  —  TJie 
Gardener's  Monthly. 

Hydrangea  panieulata  grandiflora. 

— The  queen  of  hardy  Hydrangeas  is 
the  new  Japan  variety,  known  in  nur- 
serymen's catalogues  as  H.  panieulata 
grandiflora.  It  grows  rather  tall  if  left 
to  itself  to  come  in  among  small  shrubs. 
Still,  as  it  is  not  a  coarse -wood  plant, 
a  little  shortening  of  the  leading  shoots 
will  make  it  fit  in  very  nicely  with  the 
lesser-growing  kinds.  The  flowers  are 
white,  and  produced  in  immense  pyr- 
amidal panicles  a  foot  or  more  in 
length.  This  is  another  autumn  or 
late  summer  blooming  plant,  and  one 
of  the  best  shrubs  of  recent  introduc- 
tion.— The  Horticulturist. 

Campsidium  filieifolium. — A  free- 
growing  slender  woody  climber,  from 
the  Feejee  Islands,  and  referred  doubt- 
fully to  Campsidium,  from  the  analogy 


96 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOBTICULTUKIST. 


of  its  foliage.  It  has  opposite  impari- 
pinnate  leaves,  which  are  about  five 
inches  long,  including  a  petiole  of  one 
inch,  and  consists  of  nine  pairs  of  leaf- 
lets, which  are  small,  ovate,  deeply  cut 
into  two  or  three  lobes  on  each  side, 
the  larger  lobes  being  sometimes  tooth- 
ed. The  leaves,  from  their  size  and 
form,  are  strongly  suggestive  of  fronds 
of  some  small-growing  pinnate  Asplen- 
ium,  A.  viride,  for  example.  The  growth 
and  general  character  of  the  plant  is 
so  elegant  that,  whether  cultivated  as  a 
small  pot -plant,  trained  on  globular 
or  other  trellises,  or  planted  as  a  climb- 
er, it  has  a  most  charming  and  engag- 
ing appearance.  The  flowers  are  as  yet 
unknown. 

Dracaena  metallica. — This  robust- 
habited  stove-plant  is  the  finest  of  all 
the  dark-colored  Dracaenas,  the  leaves 
being  as  much  as  sixteen  inches  long, 
and  of  an  oblong,  acuminate  form,  with 
a  marginate  petiole  four  inches  long. 
These,  together  with  the  sheathy  leaf- 
stalks, are  of  a  uniform,  rich,  coppery, 
purplish  hue  when  young,  becoming  a 
dark  purplish  bronze  when  mature.  The 
leaves  are  somewhat  erect  and  arching. 
Taking  into  account  their  large  size,  and 
their  full  and  rich  coloring,  together 
with  the  free  habit  of  growth,  D.  metal- 
lica comes  into  the  very  foremost  rank 
among  decorative  and  exhibition  plants. 
Imported  from  the  Samoan  Islands. 

Gymnogramma  deeomposita. — A 

very  handsome  and  well-marked  stove- 
Fern,  belonging  to  the  group  furnished 
with  ceraceous  pale  yellow  powder.  The 
fronds  are  three  feet  long  and  fully  half 
as  much  in  width,  of  triangular  outline, 
and  curving  or  arching  in  a  graceful 
manner;  they  are  decompound,  the  pin- 
nae being  unequally  triangular-elong- 
ate, the  pinnules  triangular-lanceolate, 
the  pinnulets  oblong-lobate,  the  lobes 


being  deeply  cut  into  from  two  to  six 
small  finger-like  divisions,  which  gives 
the  fronds  a  finely  dissected  appear- 
ance. The  stipe  is  about  one  foot  long, 
freely  covered  while  young  with  the 
pale  golden  powder. 

New  Lilliputian  Zonal  Geranium 
named  "  Aurantia  striata."  This  plant 
is  distinguishable  in  any  collection,  and 
will  at  once  take  the  eye  of  the  critic 
on  account  of  its  unique  and  tidy  hab- 
its of  compactness,  unparalleled  densi- 
ty of  panicles,  and  conspicuous  symme- 
try of  proportion. 


NEW  AND  EAKE  FEUITS. 

Souvenir    du    Congres    Pear.  — 

Messrs.  Ellwanger  &  Barry,  Mount 
Hope  Nurseries,  Kochester,  N.  Y.,  an- 
nounce a  new  Pear — the  Souvenir  du 
Congres.  It  was  exhibited  by  them  for 
the  first  time  in  this  country,  at  the 
great  Pomological  Exhibition  at  Bos- 
ton, last  fall.  It  attracted  great  atten- 
tion for  its  large  size,  fine  form,  supe- 
rior quality,  and  earliness.  The  tree  is 
vigorous  and  productive.  The  fruit  is 
larger  than  Bartlett  or  Clapp's  Favor- 
ite. The  skin  is  smooth,  bright  yellow, 
when  the  fruit  is  fully  matured,  and 
red  toward  the  sun.  The  flesh,  while 
it  is  very  like  the  Bartlett,  has  a  less  de- 
fined musky  flavor,  and  it  is  firm  to  the 
core.  It  commences  to  ripen  in  New 
York  State  about  the  first  of  August, 
before  the  Bartlett,  and  extends  into 
September. 

Following  are  some  new  Pears  deem- 
ed worthy  of  cultivation  by  Hon.  Mar- 
shall P.  Wilder: 

Harris. — Size  above  medium;  form 
ovate  pyriform,  resembling  in  general 
appearance  the  Beurre  Hardy;  stem  one 
inch  or  more  in  length,  frequently  in- 
serted angularly  and  without  much  de- 
pression; color  golden  russet,  at  matur- 


No.  i.  —  Full- aged  Male  Fur- Seal,  St.  Paul's  Island. 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


97 


ity;  flesh  yellowish  white,  fine  grained, 
very  tender,  melting,  and  juicy;  flavor 
rich,  vinous,  spirited,  and  aromatic, 
somewhat  like  the  Beurre  d'Areinberg; 
season  October  1st  to  15th;  keeps 
sound  at  the  core;  quality  very  good  to 
best;  will  probably  prove  a  first-class 
fruit;  tree  healthy,  hardy,  and  pro- 
ductive; foliage  small. 

Madame  Henri  Desporte.  —  She 
above  medium,  broadly  turbinate;  eye 
partly  closed,  in  a  deep  narrow  basin; 
stem  short  and  thick,  set  on  one  side  of 
a  lip ;  skin  rather  thick,  almost  entirely 
covered  with  cinnamon  russet  on  a  yel- 
low ground;  flesh  white,  very  fine 
grained,  free  from  grit,  juicy  and  but- 
tery, very  sweet  and  rich,  with  a  very- 
slight  astringency;  season  last  of  Octo- 
ber and  first  of  November;  keeps  well; 
quality  very  good  to  best;  resembles 
Beurre  Bosc  in  color,  texture,  and  qual- 
ity; tree  a  fine  grower  and  productive. 
This  variety  is  from  seed  by  Andre  Le- 
roy,  of  Angers,  France. 

General  de  Bonehamp.— Size  large; 
form  oblong  pyriform;  color  dull  yel- 
low, slightly  traced  with  russet;  flesh 
melting,  juicy,  buttery,  and  fine  grain- 
ed; flavor  sweet,  rich  and  aromatic;  sea- 
son November  to  December,  ripening 
earlier  than  with  Mr.  Leroy  in  France; 
quality  very  good  to  best.  A  Pear  of 
good  promise. 

Variegated  Carnations.  —  W.  A.  R., 
Dubuque,  writes  to  The  Gardener's 
Monthly:  Are  there  any  variegated- 
leaved  Carnations  known  to  you  ?  I 
have  not  seen  any  advertised,  but  have 
a  well-marked  plant,  a  sport  from  C. 
Shiller,  having  a  creamy-white  stripe  in 
the  centre  of  each  leaf.  I  discovered 
it  when  only  the  tip  of  the  first  varie- 
gated leaf  could  be  seen,  and  propa- 
gated it  at  once,  and  it  is  now  a  vigorous 
well-marked  plant. 

Vol.  V— 13. 


(&oxvt$\mx&t\M. 


Editor  of  California  Horticulturist: 

Deak  Sik, — Our  hills  are  green  and 
beautiful;  the  winter  is  nearly  over. 
This  is  the  second  winter  that  I  have 
cultivated  California  soil.  Our  hills 
have  a  peculiar  climate.  I  think  that 
they  resemble  Crimean  hills.  In  Crim- 
ea on  the  northern  side-hills  the  soil  is 
very  poor;  the  southern  side  resembles 
Messina  in  Italy. 

The  winter  was  very  cold  and  kept 
back  vegetation.  At  a  ranch  owned  by 
a  Portugese,  Mr.  Antonio  Williams, 
half  a  mile  from  our  place,  I  saw  every 
kind  of  vegetables  in  his  garden  ready 
for  the  table  on  Christmas-day.  His 
vegetable  garden  is  on  a  southern  side- 
hill. 

We  had  through  the  whole  winter, 
for  our  own  table,  Lettuce,  Radishes, 
and  Spinach.  I  put  Early  Rose  Pota- 
toes in  the  ground  on  the  2d  of  Novem- 
ber; they  are  most  ready  to  dig  up. 
Green  Peas  are  in  blossom. 

I  hope  the  time  will  come  when  the 
climate  and  soil  of  our  hills  will  be 
studied  by  intelligent  farmers,  and 
proper  places  will  be  cultivated  in  the 
winter  season  to  supply  San  Francisco 
at  that  period  with  all  kinds  of  vege- 
tables. Agapius  Honcharenko. 

Ukeaina,  Cal.,  February  15,  1875. 


Dicentea  spectabilis  (Bleeding  Heart). 
— If  limited  to  but  one  plant  this  would 
certainly  be  our  choice.  It  grows  free- 
ly in  almost  any  good  soil,  never  failing 
to  bloom  early  and  for  a  long  time.  In 
habit  it  has  no  equal  in  graceful  ele- 
gance, and  its  abundance  of  rosy  crim- 
son flowers  make  altogether  a  plant  to 
be  admired  by  the  million.  Although 
introduced  almost  or  quite  a  quarter  of 
a  century  since,    still  there  are  thou- 


98 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


sands  of  gardens  in  which  it  has  not 
found  a  home.  It  may  be  rapidly  pro- 
pagated by  dividing  the  roots  or  by  cut- 
tings of  its  half -ripened  flower  stems  in 
summer,  placed  in  almost  any  shady 
spot  in  the  garden. 


SOME  NOTES  ON  BUSH  FRUIT,  FRUIT 
CULTURE,  AND  REPORT  ON  THE 
FRUIT  AND  VEGETABLE  MARKET. 

BY   E.    J.    HOOPEB. 

The  subjects  upon  which  I  will  com- 
mence to  treat  are  Raspberries,  Goose- 
berries, Black  Currants,  and  Red  and 
White  Currants.  Raspberries  are,  per- 
haps, more  liable  to  suffer  from  lack  of 
moisture  and  moderate  irrigation  than 
from  any  other  cause.  They  like  a  soil, 
therefore,  which  contains  a  permanency 
of  proper  dampness,  which  in  our  cli- 
mate they  can  not  have  completely, 
without  some  irrigation.  They  will, 
for  the  above  reason,  succeed  in  half- 
shaded  situations,  as  in  orchards  of 
some  kinds  of  fruits,  but  the  fruit  with 
too  much  shade  never  attains  that  high 
flavor  so  much  esteemed  in  the  Rasp- 
berry. The  most  improved  variety  we 
have  seems  to  be  the  Fastolf.  It  pos- 
sesses one  valuable  quality  in  particu- 
lar— long  bearing,  at  any  rate  as  far  as 
our  comparatively  dry  climate  will  per- 
mit. We  have  a  few  other  sorts;  but 
the  Fastolf  continues  in  bearing  long 
after  the  other  kinds;  appearing  to  par- 
take, in  some  degree,  of  the  double 
bearing.  They  will  be  better  for  a 
rather  liberal  manuring  annually,  and 
no  digging  over  the  roots  should  be 
permitted,  but  only  the  horse  cultivator 
and  hoe  should  be  used  to  keep  the 
ground  loose  and  clear  of  weeds.  This 
berry  is  of  large  size  and  high  flavor. 

Among  all  the  smaller  bush  fruits  the 
Gooseberry  delights  most  in  an  open, 


free,  and  generous  soil;  one  rather  dark 
in  color,  as  much  of  our  soils  are,  seems 
to  suit  it  best.  We  have  to  depend 
most  on  the  American  native  kinds,  as 
the  Houghton,  small  as  it  is  when 
compared  with  the  European;  the  latter 
requiring  peculiar  treatment  with  some 
lime  and  salt,  and  other  manures,  to 
keep  off  their  great  pest — the  mildew — 
and  even  then  we  have  merely  partial 
success  with  them.  Red  and  White 
Currants  require,  also,  a  friable  and 
pretty  fertile  soil;  but  if  too  rich,  they 
will  produce  too  much  watery  wood. 
It  is,  however,  difficult  to  make  the 
soil  too  good  for  Gooseberries,  with 
any  reasonable  amount  of  manurial 
matters.  Many  good  gardeners,  par- 
ticularly for  the  English  sorts,  if  they 
cultivate  any,  pack  about  half  a  barrow- 
ful  around  the  stem  of  each  bearing 
bush  every  winter.  This  washes  down 
in  nutrition  to  the  roots,  and  helps  to 
keep  them  damp  in  our  dry  and  hot 
season.  Little  summer  pruning  is 
needed  for  the  Gooseberry — just  enough 
to  keep  the  boughs  from  dangling  too 
low,  though  that  may  be  allowed  to 
some  extent,  like  the  Grape,  in  our  sea- 
son of  drouth.  For  this  purpose  the 
ordinary  shears  may  be  used,  removing 
any  portion  of  the  points  which  might 
drag  too  much  along  the  ground. 

Black  Currants  love  a  moist  soil,  espe- 
cially when  they  are  in  blossom,  or 
swelling  is  apt  to  engender  plant  lice 
or  aphides.  For  this  reason  some  ma- 
nure kept  damp  round  their  stems,  in 
order  to  retain  the  moisture,  as  well  as 
to  encourage  surface  fibres,  is  benefi- 
cial .  Soap-suds  are  good  for  this  pur- 
pose. Here,  too,  the  use  of  the  spade 
must  be  protested  against.  Summer 
pruning  is  not  needed  with  the  Black 
Currant;  unless  it  be  a  few  of  the  lower 
shoots,  bending  with  their  weight,  and 
draggling,  like   some  foolish  woman's 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


99 


skirts,  along  the  ground.  If,  however, 
any  of  the  young  points  grow  to  an  in- 
convenient height,  they  may  be  pinch- 
ed or  cu*t  back  any  time  during  May  or 
June,  leaving  a  few  of  the  lower  leaves. 
Black  Currants,  it  is  true,  are  not  much 
grown  here,  but  they  make  a  useful 
jam  for  coughs  and  sore  throats.  Red 
Currants  are  much  coarser-growing 
than  the  White,  and  do  not  require  so 
fertile  a  soil,  nor  so  much  manure  if 
planted  in  rather  poor  land;  indeed, 
when  they  make  too  coarse  and  too 
thick  branches,  manure  is  out  of  the 
question;  whereas  it  is  not  easy  to  over- 
enrich  the  Whites.  Both  Bed  and 
White  Currants  delight  in  a  free  and 
open  soil,  and  will  endure  drouth 
much  better  than  the  Black  Currant. 
Summer  pruning  is  with  them  of  much 
service.  This  is  performed  when  the 
body  or  "  breast  shoots"  are  about  ten 
inches  in  length.  They  may  be  short- 
ened to  four  inches,  which  is  necessary 
to  protect  them  from  our  intense  sun- 
light; for  if  it  shines  much  immediately 
on  the  bunches  of  fruit  before  the  col- 
oring period,  they  will  lose  size  as  welj 
as  juiciness.  But  the  terminal  points, 
also,  are  apt  to  lengthen  inconvenient- 
ly; these  may  be  shortened  when  from 
eight  inches  to  a  foot  in  length. 

These  proceedings  will  throw  much 
strength  into  the  berries,  which  is  most 
desirable.  It  is  no  use  suffering  young- 
growing  spray  to  any  indefinite  extent;  it 
is  but  adding  more  woody  matter;  where- 
as the  prime  object  should  be  to  throw 
as  much  into  the  fruit  as  possible.  As 
for  weak  growth  (and  that  is  rare  in 
our  climate  and  soil),  that  merely  points 
to  the  need  of  manure,  if  the  land  is 
not  naturally  rich,  and  may  be  amend- 
ed by  surface  dressings,  or  by  digging 
out  a  trench  around  them,  and  intro- 
ducing manurial  matters. 

Among  the  chief  recommendations  to 


be  offered,  it  is  here  urged  that  there 
be  no  deep  stirring  the  ground  at  any 
period  nearer  than  three  feet  from  the 
bole  of  the  bush. 

The  White  Currant  requires  less 
shortening  than  the  Red,  and  seldom 
much  summer  pruning.  It  is  astonish- 
ing what  a  weight  of  fruit  both  the 
White  and  Red  Currant  bush  will  pro- 
duce, if  of  a  good  kind  —  as  the  Cherry 
Currant — and  properly  handled  in  our 
almost  perfect  climate. 

Further,  with  regard  to  pruning  in 
the  rest  season,  it  may  be  observed  that 
a  too  sparing  hand  is  the  common  fault. 
Gooseberries,  especially,  require  more 
thinning  than  is  commonly  awarded  to 
them.  The  interior  shoots  of  the  bush, 
in  healthy  trees,  should  be  much  prun- 
ed away,  and  the  bearing  confined 
chiefly  to  the  extreme  points.  They 
are  thus  gathered  with  more  ease;  in- 
deed, the  bushes  may  be  stripped  in 
half  the  time  of  those  choked  up  in  the 
interior.  The  fruit,  also,  particularly 
the  English  kinds,  is  much  finer,  and 
the  crop  will  be  found  to  tell  well  in 
bulk.  Those  who  grow  European  kinds 
of  Gooseberries  for  exhibition  purposes 
may  use  liquid  manure  occasionally, 
during  the  swelling  process,  &s  also 
just  before  the  fruit  begins  to  color. 

I  have  occupied  so  much  space  con- 
cerning these  small  fruits,  that  I  am 
disabled  from  enlarging  more,  at  this 
time,  on  other  points  of  fruit  culture  of 
any  kind,  and  will,  therefore,  proceed 
to  deal  with  the  usual  reports  of  the 
markets. 

Near  the  middle  of  last  month  (Feb- 
ruary) vegetables  showed  very  little  im- 
provement in  any  way.  Artichokes 
were  to  be  had  for  $1.00  to  $1.25 
per  dozen,  and  Asparagus  for  62|c.  to 
75c.  per  dozen.  Small  quantities  of 
Rhubarb  were  offering  at  37 -Jc.  per  lb. 
New  Potatoes  were  no  better  in  quality. 


100 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Those  offering  were  a  mixture  of  "  vol- 
unteer" and  genuine.  The  Potato 
blight  had  already  commenced  to  show 
itself  on  the  crop.  One -half  of  the 
New  Potatoes  for  sale  in  the  retail  mar- 
kets were  more  or  less  affected  by  it. 
The  price  of  New  Potatoes  was  a  little 
easier  on  the  12th  ult.,  ranging  from 
6c.  to  8c.  per  lb. ;  Cabbage  Sprouts 
were  also  a  trifle  cheaper,  selling  at  8c. 
to  10c;  early  Green  Peas  were  retailing 
at  the  same  date  at  15c.  The  pods 
were  slightly  discolored  by  frost,  but 
the  contents  were  uninjured.  Horse- 
radish was  quoted  at  20c.  per  lb. ;  Sal- 
sify at  75c.  per  dozen  bunches;  Field 
Lettuce,  25c.  per  lb. ;  Dried  Okra,  50c. : 
Dried  Chili  Peppers,  50c. 

Fruits  were  retailing  for  the  same 
price  as  the  week  previous.  Oranges 
were  very  plentiful,  but  the  native  fruit 
is  exceedingly  small,  as  a  general  thing, 
this  season.  This  is  owing  to  the  abun- 
dant crop  borne  by  the  trees,  which 
have  not  been  subjected  to  any  thinning 
out  so  as  to  give  the  stronger  fruit  an 
opportunity  to  fully  develop.  We  give 
the  price  of  dried  nuts  and  fruits  as 
follows:  Sun-dried  California  Raisins, 
20c.  per  lb.;  California  (dried)  Plums, 
15c;  German  Prunes,  15c  t©  25c; 
Dates,  25c;  Preserved  Bananas,  25c; 
California  Almonds,  soft  shell,  25c; 
Imported  do.,  35c;  "Walnuts,  20c.  to 
25c;  Butternuts,  25c;  Chestnuts,  25c; 
Cocoanuts,  15c  each. 

California  Oranges  and  Lemons  were 
plentiful,  and  met  with  ready  sale. 
First-class  Apples  and  Pears  were 
scarce,  and  brought  high  prices.  The 
steamer  from  Oregon,  due  on  the  14th, 
was  expected  to  bring  a  large  shipment 
of  Apples,  which,  coming  into  competi- 
tion with  medium  grades,  might  cause 
a  decline,  but  could  not  have  much  ef- 
fect upon  the  prices  of  the  best  Califor- 
nia fruit.     The  market  was   sparingly 


supplied  with  Mexican  Limes,  and 
those  from  Los  Angeles  sold  at  fair 
prices.  Arrivals  from  Mexico  supplied 
the  market  with  moderate  quantities  of 
Bananas,  Pineapples,  and  Mangoes, 
which  sold  at  unchanged  rates.  Ap- 
ples by  the  box  retailed  at  $1.25  to 
$2.50. 

Green  Peas  were  very  abundant,  and 
prices  lower  about  the  20th  of  last 
month  (February).  Then,  also,  the 
first  Rhubarb  made  its  appearance,  and 
found  ready  sale  at  25c  per  lb.  Aspar- 
agus was  more  plentiful,  and  consider- 
ably cheaper.  A  consignment  of  New 
Potatoes  from  San  Bernardino  turned 
out  to  be  bogus,  being  only  a  lot  of  old 
ones,  that  had  been  buried  until  the 
skin  peeled  off,  thus  giving  them  the 
appearance  of  new.  Genuine  New  Po- 
tatoes, raised  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city, 
were  more  plentiful,  and  have  declined 
to  5c  to  8c  per  lb.  Spinach  was  quot- 
ed at  8c;  Lettuce,  20c  to  25c.  perdoz. ; 
Salsify,  8c  to  10c  per  bunch;  Pota- 
toes, by  the  sack,  delivered,  $2.25  to 
$2.50  per  cental. 

The  receipts  of  California  Oranges 
continue  to  increase,  and  the  supply  is 
now  so  abundant  that  prices  are  begin- 
ning to  weaken.  Choice  Pears  are  very 
scarce,  and  command  fancy  prices;  but 
the  refuse  from  Eastern  shipments  are 
sufficiently  plentiful  and  cheap,  though 
not  very  salable.  The  200  bunches  of 
Bananas  by  the  D.  C.  Murray,  from 
Honolulu,  arrived  in  first-class  order, 
and  find  an  appreciative  market.  Ap- 
ples are  plentiful,  and  by  the  box  re- 
tail at  $1  to  $2.50.  A  few  Pears  of  in- 
ferior quality  continue  to  be  offered  for 
sale.  Outside  of  these  descriptions  im- 
ported and  dried  native  fruits  only  ap- 
pear on  the  stalls. 

The  supply  of  Green  Peas  was  never 
known  to  be  so  large  as  it  was  about 
the  last  of  February.    A  few  were  gen- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


101 


erally  to  be  found  in  market  all  winter, 
but  they  were  never  before  sufficiently 
abundant  in  February  to  sell  for  6c.  to 
8c.  per  pound.  Within  two  or  three 
years  a  considerable  tract  of  land  along 
the  foot-hills  in  the  vicinity  of  Warm 
Springs,  Alameda  County,  has  been 
found  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  growth 
of  early  Peas,  in  consequence  of  its  al- 
most entire  exemption  from  frost,  and 
this  region  now  furnishes  almost  the 
whole  supply.  The  daily  receipts  av- 
erage nearly  100  sacks,  or  about  four 
tons.  Asparagus  came  forward  at  the 
same  time  in  limited  quantities,  but 
the  abundance  of  Peas  interfered  ma- 
terially with  the  sale  of  it,  and  kept  ar- 
ticles below  the  fancy  figures  usually 
obtainable  at  this  season. 

New  Potatoes  were  more  plentiful  and 
retailed  at  6c.  to  8c.  per  lb.  The  high 
rates  obtained  for  Humboldt,  Petaluma, 
and  other  descriptions  of  old  Potatoes, 
for  several  months,  were  still  maintain- 
ed. Onions  were  very  abundant,  and 
could  be  had  by  the  sack  at  $1.50  to 
$2.00  per  cental.  We  quote  Spinach 
at  8c;  Lettuce,  20c.  to  25c.  per  doz.; 
Salsify,  8c.  to  16c.  per  bunch;  Potatoes, 
by  the  sack,  delivered,  $2.25  to  $2.50 
per  cental. 

The  market  was  well  supplied  with 
Los  Angeles  Oranges  and  Lemons.  Ap- 
ples were  very  plentiful,  renewed  ship- 
ments from  Oregon  contributing  to  the 
supply. 

During  the  last  week  in  February, 
arrivals  of  fruit  from  foreign  countries 
included  large  consignments  of  Sicily 
Lemons,  Mexican  Limes,  and  Bananas 
and  Pineapples  from  Panama,  by  the 
coast  steamer,  and  Bananas  from  Hono- 
lulu. Pears  were  very  scarce,  and  gen- 
erally inferior  in  quality.  Apples  by 
the  box  retailed  at  $1.25  to  $2.25,  de- 
livered. 

The  quality  of  the  Green  Peas  offered 


was  just  as  inferior  as  the  quantity  was 
excessive. 

New  Potatoes  are  this  year  subjected 
to  a  new  form  of  adulteration.  For- 
merly what  are  known  as  "volunteer" 
Potatoes  were,  without  much  attempt 
at  concealment,  palmed  off  on  unwary 
purchasers  for  genuine  new  Potatoes. 
We  took  especial  pains  last  year  to  in- 
form housekeepers  of  this  practice,  and 
placed  them  on  guard  against  this  spe- 
cies of  fraud.  The  result  has  been  that 
growers  are  no  longer  encouraged  to 
continue  it  so  openly,  and  now  we  have 
a  mixture  of  "new"  and  "volunteer" 
Potatoes  presented  as  a  genuine  growth 
of  new  crop,  and  for  which  the  price  of 
genuine  new  Potatoes  is  asked — 8c.  per 
lb.  Mushrooms  continue  steady  at  10c. 
to  15c. 

Bananas  and  Pineapples  were  very 
plentiful,  the  former  at  50c.  to  75c.  per 
doz.;  the  latter  at  50c.  to  $1.25  each. 


The  Eucalyptus. — This  Australian 
tree,  called  Sweet  Gum,  or,  botanically, 
Eucalyptus  globulus,  though  compara- 
tively recently  known  in  the  United 
States  as  a  preventive  of  chills  and  fe- 
ver, has  been  known  in  Mexico  for  very 
many  years  as  possessing  that  quality. 
The  three-mile  drive  from  the  City  of 
Mexico  to  Chapultepec  is  bordered  by 
an  old  avenue  of  these  trees;  and  wher- 
ever there  is  malaria,  there  is  the  Eu- 
calyptus. It  seems  strange  that  never 
until  now  should  the  people  of  our  ma- 
larial localities,  such  as  New  Orleans, 
have  discovered  this  "fever  tree"  and 
utilized  it  by  planting  it  around  them. 
By  an  order  of  the  City  Council  of  New 
Orleans,  the  Mayor  of  that  city  adver- 
tises for  sealed  proposals  for  planting 
it  on  a  large  scale  in  and  about  that  ma- 
larial city. 


102 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


(MitwM  #l«tafl0. 


California  Norther. — The  norther  is 
essentially  a  land  gale;  its  effects  are 
seldom  felt  wide  off  at  sea,  but  all  the 
country  from  the  base  of  the  Sierra  to 
the  coast  is  under  its  dominion.  Com- 
ing as  the  present  one  does  right  after 
a  long  rain-storm,  its  desiccating  effects 
are  not  felt  as  much  as  in  the  spring- 
time or  in  midsummer.  We  have  seen 
hedge-rows  of  Cypress  turn  brown  un- 
der the  influence  of  a  norther  as  if  a 
fire  had  passed  over  them;  leaves  upon 
trees  would  curl  up  and  fall,  young 
fruit  would  drop  off,  the  paper  upon 
the  walls  of  dwellings  would  become 
detached,  furniture  would  fall  to  piec- 
es, and  growing  crops  of  young  grain 
would  be  nearly  ruined  in  a  few  hours. 
The  norther  sucks  up  the  juices  of 
plants  and  the  juices  of  humanity  at  the 
same  time.  Nervous  people  are  some- 
times made  nearly  frantic  under  the 
rasping  effects  of  the  blast,  and  even 
animals  become  restless  and  excited. 
What  the  good  effects  of  a  norther  may 
be  we  have  never  been  able  to  find  out. 
Does  it  execute  some  sort  of  a  sanitary 
commission  in  the  vigorous  airing  which 
it  gives  to  everything  out-of-doors,  and 
in-doors,  also?  If  it  blows  epidemics 
and  malaria  out  of  the  country,  let  us 
be  content  with  our  norther.  But  un- 
less we  can  find  a  redeeming  sanitary 
side,  we  shall  take  a  norther  to  be  about 
as  useless  a  gale  as  ever  swept  over  land 
or  sea. 

Beecher  on  Apples.  —  Rev.  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  expatiates  with  true  ec- 
clesiastical unction  on  the  manifold 
uses  of  the  Apple  in  the  domain  of  cu- 
linary art.  It  might  take  its  place  on 
the  table  as  regularly  as  the  Potato  or 
the  Onion,  for  though  "the  Onion  is 
far  more  odorous,  the  Apple  is  far  more 


blessed."  It  is  an  admirable  sauce  for 
meat,  which  always  craves  a  piquant 
acid  for  relish.  When  meat  is  want- 
ing, "  a  scrap  of  pork  in  the  frying- 
pan,  with  sliced  Apples,  will  serve  the 
economic  table  almost  as  well  as  if  it 
had  been  carved  from  a  beef  or  cut 
from  a  sheep."  Mr.  Beecher  blesses 
the  memory  of  the  unknown  inventor 
of  the  Apple  pie.  He  would  fain  make 
a  pilgrimage  to  his  grave  and  rear  over 
it  an  everlasting  monument.  But  the 
juice  of  the  Apple  he  accepts  only 
with  discreet  reservations.  Though 
banished  from  its  former  universal  po- 
sition upon  the  farmer's  table,  cider  is 
creeping  back  again,  but  it  comes  in 
the  name  of  a  neighbor,  and  is  called 
champagne.  Whether  in  one  form  or 
another,  it  is  still  savory  of  the  orchard; 
it  still  brings  warmth  to  chilly  veins, 
and  adds  to  the  cheer  of  many  a  home- 
ly domestic  festival.  "  I  can  not,"  says 
Mr.  Beecher,  "as  a  temperance  man, 
exhort  you  to  make  it,  but  I  must  say, 
that  if  you  make  it,  you  had  better 
make  it  good." 


Plant  for  Tanning  Leather. — A  new 
plant  is  found  in  Iowa,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  grow  in  the  northern  part  of 
California,  and  which  we  now  describe, 
that  farmers  and  herdsmen  may  look 
for  it.  Its  use  is  for  tanning  leather. 
It  contains  more  tannin  than  the  best 
bark.  To  the  eye  it  is  a  (wild  Buck- 
wheat. Its  stem  is  a  lighter  red  and 
much  thicker,  usually  over  one-eighth 
of  an  inch  in  diameter.  The  plant  is 
tall  as  Wheat.  The  leaves  are  the  form 
of  Peach-leaves.  The  joints  of  the 
stem  resemble  the  leg  of  a  fowl  in 
shape.  They  are  a  little  furzy.  It 
flourishes  on  wet  bottom  land.  Some 
people  liken  it  to  smart-weed.  It  is 
not  reported  as  bearing  a  flower;  but  it 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


103 


yields  seeds,  so  a  flower  is  supposed,  of 
course. 

Its  botanical  name  is  Polygonon  Am- 
phibium.  Dr.  Bolander  has  not  found 
it,  but  he  is  advised  that  a  plant  an- 
swering the  description  has  been  ob- 
served in  north  California.  Some  seed 
is  expected  from  Iowa,  which  will  be 
described  hereafter.  Should  any  of 
our  friends  find  this  plant,  they  will 
confer  a  favor  by  informing  us  of  the 
fact.  It  is  believed  to  be  worth  looking 
after. 

Bananas  in  Southeen  Califobnia. — 
Rev.  H.  H.  Messenger  brought  to  our 
sanctum  recently  a  number  of  Banan- 
as which  were  grown  in  the  open  air  on 
his  place  near  the  San  Gabriel  Mission. 
The  bulbs  from  which  the  Banana 
stalks  sprung  were  brought  from  the 
Sandwich  Islands  about  twenty-two 
months  ago.  In  eighteen  months  from 
the  planting  of  the  bulbs  the  stalks 
blossomed,  and  in  three  months  longer 
the  fruit  matured.  Fifteen  Bananas 
were  borne  upon  the  bunch.  They 
were  small,  but  equal  in  flavor  to  any 
we  have  ever  tasted.  From  the  new 
bulbs,  which  will  grow  from  the  old 
ones  this  year,  Mr.  Messenger  expects 
to  procure  much  finer  fruit.  He  thinks 
that  the  raising  of  Bananas  can  be  suc- 
cessfully prosecuted  here,  and  that 
without  any  unnatural  protection  for 
the  plants.  He  also  thinks  that  the 
Florida  Banana  is  much  better  adapted 
to  our  soil  and  climate  than  any  other. 
— Los  Angeles  Herald. 


Lobelia  Subnuda.  — The  Lobelia  sub- 
nuda  is  a  small  species  with  prettily 
veined  foliage,  spreading  in  a  tuft  about 
two  inches  high.  It  is  cultivated  on 
the  rock- work  at  Kew,  where  it  was  re- 
ceived from  Mr.  Thompson,  of  Ipswich,  I 


who  is  fortunate  in  possessing  so  inter- 
esting a  novelty.  The  leaves  have  a 
dark  metallic  lustre,  relieved  with  light 
green  veins;  they  are  ovate,  obtusely 
serrated  or  incised,  and  purple  under- 
neath. The  petiole  rather  exceeds  an 
inch,  the  blade  is  somewhat  less.  The 
flowers  are  small  and  pale  blue,  in  erect 
racemes  ten  inches  high.  It  is  a  native 
of  Mexico.  —  Gardener's  Chronicle. 


Smyena  and  Figs. — It  would  be  haz- 
arding little  to  say  that  the  Fig-tree 
is  the  main  prop  and  support  of  Smyr- 
na, and  that  its  fruit,  fresh  or  dried, 
furnishes  the  chief  pabulum  of  her  peo- 
ple's prosperity.  The  Fig,  in  every 
phase,  from  imperfect  to  perfect  ripe- 
ness, •  *  with  jacket  on,"  or  smothered  in 
sugar,  or  neatly  packed  in  drums  for 
exportation  (in  which  labor  most  of  the 
adult  population  seems  employed, 
meets  the  eye  everywhere.  "Without 
entering  into  statistical  details  unsuited 
to  this  article,  suffice  it  to  say  that  this 
peculiar  industry  gives  constant  and 
profitable  employment  to  thousands  of 
the  population,  and  it  is  literally  "  by 
their  fruits"  that  we  know  the  Smyrni- 
otes.  This  really  constitutes  the  chief 
trade  of  this  bustling  and  busy  little 
city,  netting  a  royal  revenue  annually 
for  ' '  Giaour  "  Ismir  from  the  remote 
infidel  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames  or 
Hudson. — Temple  Bar. 


'  The  Oeigin  of  the  Geeen  Rose. — 
There  appears  to  be  some  uncertainty 
in  regard  to  the  origin  of  this  Rose.  It 
is  a  sport  from  Rosa  indica  (the  China 
Rose  of  England  and  Daily  Rose  of 
America).  It  was  caught  in  Charles- 
ton, S.  C,  about  1833,  and  came  to 
Baltimore  through  Mr.  R.  Halliday, 
from  whom  I  obtained  it,  and  present- 


104 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HORTICULTTTKIST. 


ed  two  plants  to  my  old  friend,  Thos. 
Rivers,  in  1837.  The  first  clustering 
Rose  was  also  found  in  Charleston,  and 
sent  to  Noisette,  of  Paris,  and  there 
founded  the  Noisette  family  of  Roses. 
— B.  Buist,  Bosedale  Nurseries,  Bhiladel- 
phia. 

The  Foot-hills  for  Chestnuts. — The 
Nevada  Transcript  has  the  following: 
"Leme,  the  proprietor  of  the  French 
Gardens,  near  this  city,  was  exhibiting 
in  town  specimens  of  Chestnuts  raised 
on  his  place  the  present  year.  The 
trees  upon  which  the  nuts  grew  were 
raised  from  the  seed,  which  was  plant- 
ed only  four  years  ago.  The  Chest- 
nuts were  sent  from  France,  and  were 
planted  in  1870.  The  trees  are  quite 
heavily  loaded  with  fruit  this  year,  and 
the  nuts  are  the  largest-sized  ones  we 
ever  saw.  The  burs  contain  from  three 
to  seven  large-sized  nuts,  some  of  them 
exceeding  in  size  a  large  Plum.  They 
are  thoroughly  matured,  and  prove  that 
this  foot-hill  region  is  well  adapted  to 
their  culture.  Mr.  Leme  informs  us 
that  he  took  no  pains  in  planting  or 
training  the  trees  during  their  growth. 
They  were  put  into  ordinary  ground  and 
have  grown  as  thriftily  as  any  tree  on 
his  ranch.  There  are  thousands  of  acres 
of  land  about  here  as  well  adapted  to 
raising  such  trees  as  the  ground  on 
which  those  in  question  were  planted, 
which  can  be  obtained  at  Government 
price.  An  orchard  of  a  few  acres  would 
in  a  few  years  afford  a  nice  income,  and 
the  expense  of  starting  it  would  be  but 
trifling.  Besides  the  Chestnut,  other 
nut-bearing  trees  thrive  well  here.  We 
noticed  a  Black  Walnut  tree  in  the  yard 
of  N.  P.  Brown,  about  six  inches  in  di- 
ameter, on  which,  we  should  judge, 
there  have  grown  this  year  two  bushels 
of  nuts.  The  ground  around  the  tree 
has  not   been  cultivated    at  all.     The 


tree  was  set  out  merely  as  an  ornament- 
al shade-tree.  The  Almond-trees  in 
the  orchard  of  Josiah  Bogers  were  this 
year  heavily  loaded  with  fruit,  and  in 
fact  we  believe  there  is  not  an  instance 
of  failure  of  nut-bearing  trees  produc- 
ing bountifully  wherever  set  out  in  the 
county.  Is  there  not  an  opportunity 
here  presented  to  men  of  small  means 
to  make  a  permanent  home  and  estab- 
lish a  good  paying  business  in  a  short 
time?  An  acre  of  good  trees  would,  in 
a  few  years,  produce  four- fold  more 
than  any  acre  planted  to  grain  in  the 
valleys.  The  crop  is  always  sure,  and 
the  market  is  never  over-supplied.  It 
is  an  industry  that  in  time  will  be  an 
important  one,  and  those  who  embark 
in  it  will  be  sure  to  reap  a  rich  harvest 
in  the  future. 


METEOROLOGICAL    RECORD, 

Foe  the  Month  ending  Febeuaey  28,  1875. 

(Prepared  for  The  Horticulturist  by  Thos.  Tennent, 
Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No. 
423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office) . 

BAEOMETEE. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.19  in. 

do  12  m 30.19 

do  3  P.  m 30.17 

•do  6p.m 30.16 

Highest  point  on  the  7th,  at  9  a.  m.  and  12  m 30.32 

Lowest  point  on  the  21st,  at  6  p.  m 29.94 

THEEMOMETEE. 

(  With  north  exposure  and  free  from  refected  heat.) 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 51° 

do  12  m 57° 

do  3  p.  M 57° 

do  6  P.  m 52° 

Highest  point  on  the  6th  and  26th,  at  3  p.m 63c 

Lowest  point  on  the  3d,  at  9  a.  m 45° 

SELF  -  EEGISTEEING    THEEMOMETEE . 

Mean  height  during  the  night 44° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  7th  and  14th 48° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  2d,  3d,  22d,  24th,  and 
28th 40° 

WINDS. 

North  and  north-east  on  13  days ;  south-east  on  1  day; 
south-west  on  2  days;  north-west  on  7  days;  west  on  5 
days. 

WEATHEB. 

Clear  on  7   days;  cloudy  on  5  days;  variable  on  16  days; 
rain  on  1  day. 

BAIN   GAUGE. 

1st 0.20 

Total  Rain  of  the  season  to  date 16.18 


jdrtfTW  ^S^l 


-^tWf^ 


Ms 


101114,    iilSil  411  lillll  1  ISIf » 

Engraved  on  Wood,  and  printed  in  Colors  by  Geo.  Frauknbsuger,  Rochester,  N.  7 


THE 


AND    FLORAL   MAGAZINE. 


Vol.  V.  SAN  FRANCISCO,   APRIL,   1875.  No.  4. 


SEED -PLANTING. 


[Continued.] 

There  is  less  occasion  to  cultivate  an- 
nuals in  our  gardens  here,  than  is  cus- 
tomary in  colder  climates,  for  the  very- 
reason  that  nearly  all  bedding-plants 
are  hardy  here,  and  continue  to  flower 
for  a  number  of  years.  Besides,  our 
mild  climate  admits  the  cultivation  of  a 
great  variety  of  tropical  and  semi-tropi- 
cal plants,  so  much  preferable  to  most 
of  the  annuals,  that  only  the  very  best 
of  these  should  receive  a  place  in  our 
gardens.  However,  there  are  a  number 
of  annuals  and  herbaceous  plants,  which 
are  indispensable  to  the  flower-garden, 
and  these  I  will  undertake  to  point  out, 
as  far  as  practicable  and  within  my  ac- 
quaintance. 

I  shall  begin  with  the  Mignonnette,  so 
well  known  for  its  delightful  fragrance, 
that  it  will  not  require  any  comments 
on  my  part.  No  one  can  do  without  it, 
and  everyone  seems  to  succeed  with  its 
cultivation.  If  the  seed  is  good,  it  will 
germinate  freely  in  a  few  days  if  sown 
in  the  open  ground.  It  should  be  sown 
where  it  is  wanted,  as  it  does  not  bear 
transplanting  very  well.     In  California 

Vol.  V.— 13. 


we  may  have  Mignonnette  in  bloom 
throughout  the  year,  at  least  in  all  the 
milder  districts.  "We  have  it  in  bloom 
at  all  times,  by  sowing  the  seed  twice  a 
year.  Seed  which  is  sown  in  February 
will  flower  freely  until  late  in  autumn, 
and  seed  sown  in  June  will  flower  dur- 
ing winter  and  spring.  We  have  had 
cut-flowers  from  one  planting  for  nearly 
eighteen  months,  but  the  plants  become 
unsightly  when  more  than  nine  months 
old.  New  varieties  of  Mignonnette  have 
lately  been  introduced,  but  I  fail  to  see 
any  remarkable  difference  from  the  old 
variety.  In  some  the  flowers  are  a  tri- 
fle lighter  in  color,  in  others  a  trifle 
darker,  while  others  grow  perhaps  a 
little  more  robust.  Until  I  see  some- 
thing better,  I  will  be  perfectly  content- 
ed with  the  old  variety.  Mignonnette 
thrives  best  in  a  sunny  exposure,  and  to 
have  it  in  nice  condition  the  ground 
should  be  well  manured  before  plant- 
ing. Successive  rains  or  artificial  irri- 
gations are  apt  to  make  the  surface  of 
the  ground  hard  and  crusty;  to  prevent 
this  it  will  be  well  to  scatter  over  the 
ground  after  sowing  the  seed,  say  an 
eighth  to  a  quarter  of  an  inch  of  well- 
decayed  manure,  finely  pulverized;  this 
will  help  the  young  plants  very  much. 


106 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


If  this  is  inconvenient,  or  if  it  has  been 
neglected,  the  surface  must  be  loosened 
carefully  as  soon  as  the  young  plants 
have  made  a  few  leaves.  To  do  this 
without  injury  to  the  young  plants,  the 
ground  should  be  sprinkled  the  evening 
before,  so  as  to  soften  the  crusty  sur- 
face. 

I  have  said  more  about  Mignonnette 
than  will  perhaps  seem  justifiable  to 
the  reader,  but  these  remarks  are  appli- 
cable to  most  of  other  seeds,  particular- 
ly annuals. 

Pansies  are  equally  as  popular  for  the 
garden  as  Mignonnette,  and  can  not  be 
dispensed  with.  Who  would  not  ad- 
mire the  Pansy?  The  very  fact  that  it 
has  received  so  many  pet  names  speaks 
well  for  it.  The  English  call  it  "Heart's- 
ease,"  the  Germans  "  Stiefmvtterchen," 
the  French  "Pensee."  When  we  take 
into  consideration  that  the  magnificent 
varieties  now  under  cultivation  owe 
their  origin  to  the  Viola  tricolor,  a  com- 
mon weed  of  the  European  corn-fields, 
we  begin  to  realize  the  enormous  prog- 
ress which  the  science  of  Floriculture 
is  continually  making.  The  Pansy  is 
very  easily  cultivated,  and  very  few  ob- 
servations suffice  to  grow  it  to  perfec- 
tion. First  of  all,  seed  should  be  ob- 
tained from  a  good  strain,  and  we  should 
not  mind  paying  a  good  price  for  "num- 
ber one  "  seed.  We  have  paid  as  low 
as  $1.50  per  ounce  for  Pansy  seed,  and 
as  high  as  $5.00  per  ounce.  Imported 
French  or  German  seeds  have  always 
given  us  more  satisfaction  than  any  oth- 
er. Home-grown  seed  is  not  generally 
gathered  with  that  care  which  the  Eu- 
ropean seed-growers  of  reputation  are 
willing  to  give.  Do  not  mind,  there- 
fore, paying  a  good  price  for  your  seed, 
if  you  can  have  confidence  in  the  man 
you  deal  with. 

Pansy  seed  germinates  freely,  and 
may  be  sown  in  the  open  ground ;  but 


I  would  strongly  recommend  to  sow  in 
pots  or  boxes,  and  transplant  when  suf- 
ficiently strong.  Our  coast  districts  are 
admirably  adapted  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  Pansy*  our  cool  climate  is  just 
the  thing.  To  make  the  very  best  of 
them,  I  would  advise  to  sow  seed  twice 
a  year,  say  in  November  and  again  in 
March  or  April.  From  the  seed  sown 
in  November  we  generally  succeed  in 
having  a  fine  lot  of  strong  flowering 
plants  from  February  to  May;  and 
the  seed  sown  in  March  or  April  gives 
us  a  fine  crop  of  flowers  for  the 
early  summer  months  as  well  as  for 
the  autumn  and  early  winter,  the  cli- 
mate being  remarkably  cool  during  the 
summer  months.  This  rule,  however, 
can  not  be  applied  to  the  interior  dis- 
tricts, where  the  excessive  summer  heat 
and  dry  atmosphere  is  very  unfavorable 
to  the  Pansy;  there  the  cultivation  of 
the  Pansy  should  be  confined  to  the 
winter  months  and  early  spring;  and 
one  sowing  early  in  autumn,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  rainy  season,  will 
answer  the  purpose. 

As  soon  as  the  young  plants  have 
made  from  five  to  six  leaves,  they  should 
be  transplanted  into  soil  which  has 
been  well  manured  and  carefully  pre- 
pared. The  Pansy  thrives  best  in  rich 
sandy  loam.  Water  carefully  after 
planting,  and  finish  off  by  covering  the 
surface  of  the  soil  to  the  depth  of  about 
one  inch  with  half-decayed  stable  ma- 
nure. The  richer  the  soil  is  made,  the 
finer  will  be  the  flowers.  This,  more 
than  anything  else,  is  the  secret  of  suc- 
cess in  Pansy  culture ;  and  surely  the 
little  extra  trouble  will  amply  repay 
you. 

[To  be  Continued.] 


There  are  nearly  or  quite  500  nursery 
and  florist's  establishments  in  New  York 
or  within  fifteen  miles  of  the  city. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


107 


AMONG  THE   CALIFORNIA    BOTANISTS. 

BY  JAMES  S.   LIPPINOOTT. 

A  residence  of  ten  months'  duration 
in  California  afforded  me  opportunity 
to  become  acquainted  with  many  of  the 
remarkable  plants  peculiar  to  that  State, 
and  with  several  of  her  adopted  sons 
who  have  made  her  flora  an  object  of 
especial  study.  If  botanical  enthusi- 
asm may  anywhere  rightfully  possess 
its  student,  surely  California's  claim  to 
this  prerogative  will  not  be  questioned 
by  anyone  who  has  passed  many  months 
among  her  infinite  spread  of  flowers, 
which  in  early  spring  render  that  State 
almost  one  continuous  "  field  of  the 
cloth  of  gold."  Five  hundred  acres  in 
one  body,  covered  densely  by  the  Cali- 
fornia Poppy  (Eschscholtsia),  well  known 
to  our  readers,  and  too  brilliant  for 
mortal  gaze,  might  have  been  seen  near 
Los  Angeles,  in  March  of  the  year  just 
closed.  Hundreds  of  acres  of  Burrielia 
chrysostomia  or  the  Golden-mouthed, 
adorned  and  varied  by  beds  of  blue 
Phacelia  as  regularly  shaped  and  as 
neatly  trimmed  as  if  they  had  obeyed  a 
gardener's  hand,  delighted  us  as  we  ap- 
proached Los  Angeles  from  its  port  of 
San  Pedro.  Dodecatheons  which  in  pro- 
fusion adorn  the  low  hills  of  Paradise 
Yalley  near  San  Diego,  and  the  Calo- 
chortus  or  Mariposa  Lilies  which  lend  so 
great  a  charm  to  the  trip  to  the  Tosemi- 
te,  must  be  seen  at  home  if  one  would 
appreciate  their  exquisite  beauty  of  form 
and  color. 

We  were  not  surprised  to  find  her 
botanists  inspired  with  a  zeal  for  col- 
lecting and  studying  her  flora,  as  much 
surpassing  our  eastern  students  as  does 
their  field  that  to  which  we  have  been 
limited  on  the  Atlantic  border.  Among 
these,  in  whom  we  became  more  espe- 
cially interested,  we  may  name  Profes- 
sor H.  N.  Bolander  of    San  Francisco, 


Dr.  William  P.  Gibbons  of  Alameda, 
and  the  late  Hiram  G.  Bloomer,  Direc- 
tor of  the  Museum  of  the  California 
Academy  of  Sciences. 

Professor  H.  N.  Bolander  has  for  ma- 
ny years  been  one  of  the  most  active 
botanists  on  the  coast,  and  from  1861 
to  1867  was  connected  with  the  Geolog- 
ical Survey,  as  State  Botanist.  Dur- 
ing his  term  of  office  and  yearly  since, 
he  traversed  the  northern  and  middle 
sections,  making  extensive  pedestrian 
excursions,  and  has  been  rewarded  by 
the  discovery  of  several  hundred  plants 
new  to  science.  He  has  indeed  been 
the  largest  contributor  to  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  rich  flora  of  California,  and 
his  extraordinary  enthusiasm  and  suc- 
cess have  received  fitting  acknowledg- 
ment at  the  hands  of  the  eastern  bot- 
anists who  have  studied  his  collections. 
Professor  Bolander  has  added  five  new 
genera  of  plants,  one  of  which,  Bolan- 
dra,  appropriately  commemorates  his 
service  to  science,  while  nearly  one 
hundred  and  fifty  species  of  Phseno- 
gams,  Mosses,  and  Lichens,  have  taken 
their  specific  name  from  him.  In  and 
about  1866,  he  collected  and  distribut- 
ed about  five  hundred  species  of  Cali- 
fornia plants,  and  in  1870  was  publish- 
ed by  A.  Roman  &  Co.,  of  San  Francis- 
co, "A  Catalogue  of  Plants  growing  in 
the  Vicinity  of  San  Francisco,"  of  which 
he  is  the  author.  The  term  vicinity  is 
stretched  to  the  extreme  of  its  elastic- 
ity, and  is  made  to  extend  about  one 
hundred  miles  north  and  south  of  the 
Golden  Gate.  This  catalogue  contains 
the  names  of  nearly  all  the  phsenoga- 
mous  and  cryptogamous  plants  within 
the  range  indicated,  and  in  the  absence 
of  a  text-book  of  the  California  flora,  is 
exceedingly  valuable. 

For  several  years  past  Professor  Bo- 
lander has  filled  the  very  important 
and  responsible  position    of   Superin- 


108 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOBTICULTUKIST. 


tendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  Cali- 
fornia. His  term  of  office  will  soon  ex- 
pire, or  has  already  concluded,  and  he 
is  about  to  devote  his  extensive  and  ac- 
curate knowledge  of  the  California  flora 
to  the  growth  and  dissemination  of  her 
many  ornamental  plants.  He  has  erect- 
ed propagating  houses  and  will  soon  be 
prepared  to  supply  a  demand  for  her 
beautiful  bulbous -rooted  plants,  her 
ornamental  shrubs,  and  peculiar  conif- 
erous trees.  To  the  study  of  the  last 
named,  Professor  Bolander  has  given 
especial  attention,  and  has  succeeded 
in  determining  the  numerous  varieties, 
and  fixing  the  true  character  of  the  spe- 
cies to  which  they  belong.  The  distri- 
bution of  seeds  of  native  growth  will 
also  receive  especial  attention  at  his 
hands.  Professor  Bolander  is  a  gen- 
tleman of  fine  presence,  of  manners 
courteous  and  affable,  with  whom  ev- 
ery eastern  botanist  visiting  California 
should  at  once  become  acquainted. 
His  residence  is  in  San  Francisco. — 
Gardener's  Monthly. 


Healthftilness  of  Apples. — The  fre- 
quent use  of  Apples,  either  before  or 
after  meals,  has  a  most  healthful  effect 
upon  digestion.  Better  eat  less  meat 
and  more  fruit. 

An  eminent  French  physician  is  of 
the  opinion  that  the  marked  decrease 
of  dyspepsia  and  bilious  affections  in 
Paris  is  owing  to  the  increased  con- 
sumption of  Apples,  which  fruit  he 
maintains  is  an  admirable  prophylactic 
and  tonic,  as  well  as  a  very  nourishing 
and  easily  digested  article  of  food.  The 
Parisians  are  said  to  devour  one  hun- 
dred millions  of  Apples  every  winter — 
that  is,  they  did  before  the  war. 
Whether  this  estimate  is  true  or  not, 
the  French  are  extravagantly  fond  of 
Apples  and  other  fruit. 


THE  SPANISH  CHESTNUT. 

BY  E.     J.    HOOPEE. 

The  Spanish  Chestnut,  (Castanea  ves- 
ca)  so  valuable  for  its  fruit,  flourishes 
well  in  California  (as  indeed  do  most 
other  trees),  although,  of  course,  many 
of  them  are  comparatively  young.  Some 
Chestnuts  in  England  have  reached 
nearly  500  years  in  age.  "When  of 
good  size  it  is  one  of  the  most  stately  of 
trees,  exceeding  the  Oak  in  height,  and 
equaling  it  in  bulk.  The  foliage  exhib- 
its a  more  decided  character;  it  is 
glossy  and  formed  into  clusters,  which 
are  peculiarly  elegant  when  surrounded 
with  florescent  catkins.  This  is  the 
tree  which  we  often  see  gracing  the 
landscapes  of  Salvator  Bosa  and  other 
great  Italian  painters.  And  in  truth, 
no  other  tree  affords  such  continued  va- 
riety to  scenery  in  pictures :  at  one 
time  rising  in  all  its  leafy  majesty  in 
some  shady  recess  or  rock -encircled 
nook,  safe  from  the  war  of  winds;  at 
another,  broken  and  distorted  on  some 
high  rock,  or  half-way  down  a  steep 
and  rugged  declivity,  beneath  which 
might  roll  an  impetuous  torrent — for 
its  wood  is  naturally  rather  brittle,  and 
liable  to  be  shattered  by  fierce  winds. 
In  California  it  is  at  present  in  what 
may  be  called  a  state  of  domesticity, 
being  planted  round  homesteads  or  in 
orchards. 

Some  have  described  the  Spanish 
Chestnut  as  being  indigenous  to  Brit- 
ain; others  maintain  that  it  was  brought 
from  Sardis  into  Italy,  whence  it 
passed  into  France  and  England.  No 
doubt  is  now  existing  that  it  is  not  exot- 
ic in  Britain.  The  great  profit  arising 
from  the  wood,  being  much  used  for 
hop-poles,  accounts  for  the  disappear- 
ance of  large  trees  from  their  forest 
growing-places.  Mauy  of  the  oldest 
houses  in  England  are  floored  or  wain- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


109 


seoted  with  the  wood.  No  doubt  noble 
forests  of  these  trees  once  existed  in  the 
central  part  of  England. 

In  Italy  the  nuts  have  always  been 
acceptable  with  milk  and  cheese ;  and, 
as  with  us,  the  nuts  are  roasted  on  small 
stoves  in  the  streets  by  fruit-sellers,  who 
dispose  of  them  to  the  passing  wayfar- 
ers. They  are  equally  as  grateful  and 
nutritious  as,  and  to  me  they  have  much 
the  flavor  of,  roasted  Sweet  Potatoes. 
In  Italy,  bread  made  from  the  flour  is 
very  strengthening,  and  is  said  greatly 
to  improve  the  complexion.  The  Ital- 
ians also  use  the  flour  in  making  frit- 
ters, which  are  wetted  with  rose-water, 
and  which,  when  sprinkled  with  grated 
Parmesan  cheese,  are  fried  in  fresh 
butter.  I  think,  in  time,  if  these  trees 
are  much  increased  in  California,  they 
will  be  used  here,  partially  at  any  rate, 
for  similar  purposes. 

The  girth  of  the  ancient  tree  in  En- 
gland before  spoken  of,  at  the  height  of 
six  feet  from  the  ground  was  forty-six 
feet  and  six  inches,  about  130  years 
ago — that  is,  when  it  was  about  400 
years  old. 

The  foliage  of  the  Spanish  Chestnut 
is  very  beautiful,  both  in  spring  and 
autumn:  in  the  first,  grandly  umbra- 
geous, and  presenting  a  fine  clear  green 
in  its  spear-shaped  leaves;  in  the  sec- 
ond, and  when  falling  into 

"  The  sear,  the  yellow  leaf," 

gorgeously  contributing  to  the  rich  and 
varying  tints  of  woodland  or  landscape- 
gardening  scenery. 

I  do  not  see  why,  in  time,  these  trees 
in  California  may  not  aspire  to  as  grand 
dimensions  as  they  do  in  Italy. 

The  foreign  varieties  (3farroniers  of 
the  French)  of  the  Chestnut,  differ  in 
little  from  the  American  native  variety, 
except  in  the  larger  size  of  their  nuts. 
They  are  of  distinct  importance,  how- 


ever, in  a  landscape,  on  account  of 
their  remaining  green  for  weeks  after 
our  native  kind  has  fallen  into  its  au- 
tumnal decay. 

The  Chestnut  will  thrive  in  the  most 
barren  soils,  especially  those  of  a  rocky 
or  gravelly  nature,  provided  they  have 
sufficient  moderate  moisture;  doing  ful- 
ly as  well  in  a  deep  rich  loam,  or  any 
soil  but  a  wet  one.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  tree 
for  any  situation.  The  Bartram  spe- 
cimen is  eighty  feet  high,  and  seven 
feet  nine  inches  in  circumference;  and 
one  of  the  Marron  variety  thirty-five 
feet  high  and  three  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence. 

It  may  be  propagated  by  seed  sown 
in  drills  in  the  spring,  or  in  the  late 
fall,  if  preserved  from  vermin.  The 
improved  varieties  are  perpetuated  by 

grafting. 

♦ 

THE    CACTUS. 

BY    F.    "W.  POPPEY. 

The  traveler,  when  emerging  from 
the  primeval  forests  of  Guiana  and  en- 
tering the  pampas  of  Venezuela,  will  find 
the  scenery  changed.  The  rich  verd- 
ure that  covered  the  soil  has  disap- 
peared, the  surface  is  hot,  and  in  the 
crevices  of  the  cracked  ground  appear 
the  gloomy  forms  of  the  Melon  Cactus 
armed  with  frightful  thorns.  Farther 
up  the  Andes  the  ground  is  almost  cov- 
ered with  the  pale  grayish  -  green  balls 
of  the  Mammillarias,  among  which  the 
Old  Man — Cereus  senilis,  is  standing, 
the  gray  hairs  hanging  from  its  serious 
head.  Descending  into  the  plains  of 
Mexico,  where  the  gigantic  ruins  of  the 
Aztec  castles  give  evidences  of  a  remote 
and  vanished  culture,  we  perceive  a 
scenery  spread  before  the  eye,  melan- 
choly, bare  and  dead,  as  if  roasted  by 
the  scorching  sun  of  the  Sierra  caliente. 
Dull  grayish-green,  branchless,  leafless, 


110 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


rise  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  high 
the  angular  pillars  of  the  Torch -thistle 
Cactus,  surrounded  by  an  impenetrable 
hedge  of  the  Indian  Fig  or  Prickly  Pear, 
covered  with  dangerous  hurtful  spines, 
whilst  all  around  are  seen  groups  of 
the  strange  and  ugly  forms  of  the  Echi- 
nocactus  and  small  Cereuses,  between 
which  seem  to  creep  like  poisonous  rep- 
tiles the  long  dry  stems  of  the  large- 
flowered  Cactus,  Cereus  nyctwaulus.  In 
short,  on  the  whole  journey  we  are  ac- 
companied by  a  family  of  plants  which 
in  their  odd  forms  seem  totally  to  ab- 
negate the  principle  of  beauty,  and  yet 
stand  forward  so  prominently  as  to  give 
to  the  whole  region  its  peculiar  charac- 
ter. We  can  not  forbear  granting  them 
our  earnest  attention,  and  as  a  group  of 
plants  which  seem  to  revolt  against  the 
laws  of  all  the  rest  of  the  vegetable  king- 
dom they  certainly  deserve  our  interest 
to  a  high  degree.  • 

All  about  these  plants  is  not  less 
wonderful  than  it  is  peculiar.  With 
the  sole  exception  of  the  genus  Peires- 
Jcea,  none  have  leaves;  for  what  is  com- 
monly supposed  to  be  and  called  leaf 
with  the  Cactus  alatus  or  the  Opuntia 
is  but  a  flattened  stem  or  trunk,  more 
or  less  fleshy,  covered  with  a  leathery 
skin,  and  where  the  leaves,  if  there  were 
any,  would  be,  we  find  instead  bun- 
dles of  hair,  spines,  or  thorns. 

Few  families  of  plants  are  confined 
to  so  narrow  a  space  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth  as  the  Cactus.  All  of  them 
are  perhaps  without  a  single  exception 
natives  of  that  portion  of  our  continent 
which  is  situated  between  latitude  40°  S. 
and  40°  N.  All  prefer  a  dry  soil,  ex- 
posed to  the  full  rays  of  the  sun,  which 
circumstance  strangely  contrasts  with 
the  fleshy  texture  of  the  trunk,  filled 
with  a  watery  subacid  juice,  not  disa- 
greeable to  the  taste.  This  peculiarity 
renders  them  invaluable  to  the  thirsty 


languishing  traveler,  and  Bernardin  de 
St.  Pierre  very  appropriately  calls  them 
"the  springs  of  the  desert."  For  in 
the  dry  season,  when  all  animal  life 
has  fled  from  the  llanos,  when  the  boa 
and  the  crocodile  sink  into  a  death-like 
sleep,  the  wild  asses  and  mules  alone 
know  how  to  sustain  life  by  availing 
themselves  of  the  providential  Cactus. 
Cautiously  with  their  hoofs  they  rub 
off  the  spines,  split  open  the  large  Mel- 
on Cactus,  and  than  suck  the  cooling, 
refreshing,  and  nutritious  juice.  What 
nature  denied  them  in  form  of  body 
she  gave  with  liberal  measure  in  the 
shape,  color,  and  perfume  of  their  flow- 
ers. Who  has  not  been  delighted  with 
the  blossom  and  its  odor  of  the  Night- 
blooming  Cereus  ?  But  it  is  not  only 
the  charm  of  their  flowers  that  gladdens 
our  sight,  nor  the  cooling  juice  that 
refreshes  the  thirsty  creature,  which 
make  these  curious  children  of  nature 
an  object  of  interest;  it  is  also  their 
manifold  economic  usefulness. 

Almost  all  the  Cactuses  bear  eatable 
fruit,  and  some  are  among  the  most  de- 
licious of  the  hot  zone,  in  which  alone 
they  fully  mature.  Their  fruit  might 
not  improperly  be  considered  a  higher 
order  of  Grooseberries,  which  they  in  a 
botanical  view  really  are  nearest  relat- 
ed to.  Though  the  trunk  originally  is 
fleshy  and  juicy,  in  course  of  time  it 
hardens  into  wood,  which  is  both  firm 
and  light.  Especially  the  long  pillow- 
shaped  Cereuses  are  in  this  respect  very 
convenient  to  the  weary  traveler  in  those 
timberless  deserts,  to  light  up  the  night 
and  bake  his  tortilla.  From  their  be- 
ing used  as  torches  their  name  Torch- 
thistle  is  derived.  On  the  Hacienda  de 
Antisana,  perhaps  the  highest  inhabited 
spot  on  the  earth  (12,000  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea),  the  beams,  posts,  etc., 
are  of  this  wood,  which  with  its  light- 
ness could  be  carried   thither  on    the 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Ill 


back  of  mules.  In  Mexico,  in  the  south 
of  Europe,  the  north  of  Africa,  and  es- 
pecially on  the  Canary  Islands,  the 
Opuntia,  the  common  Prickly  Pear  of 
Texas  and  New  Mexico,  is  effectually 
employed  for  hedges,  which  with  their 
thorns  present  a  formidable  barrier  to 
every  intruder.  And  here  we  might 
mention  the  fact  that  it  is  this  plant, 
the  Opuntia  cochinellifera,  upon  which 
that  precious  little  parasite  the  Cochi- 
neal (coccus  cacti)  lives.  In  Brazil, 
Spain  and  Corsica,  but  principally  round 
Oaxaca,  Tlascala  and  G-uanaxate,  are  ex- 
tensive plantations,  called  Nopaleros, 
on  which  the  Opuntias  (Nopal)  are  cul- 
tivated for  the  production  of  the  cochi- 
neal, which  gives  us  the  carmine.  The 
breeding  of  the  cochineal  introduced  on 
the  Canary  Islands  in  the  year  1833 
permitted  in  1859  an  export  of  this  very 
light  article  of  1,369,000  pounds,  at 
$1.50  per  pound. 

For  medical  purposes  also,  both  the 
fleshy  stem  and  the  fruit  is  frequently 
used  by  American  and  Mexican  physi- 
cians. A  considerable  amount  of  oxalic 
acid  contained  in  the  stem  of  this  vege- 
table may  be  extracted  from  it.  The 
Peruvian  and  the  Old  Man  Cactus  yield 
about  85  per  cent,  oxalate  of  lime. 

This  short  view  may  suffice  to  ac- 
count for  the  interest  this  plant  has  so 
deservedly  met  with,  by  the  naturalist, 
the  economist,  and,  for  its  apparently 
abnormal  organization,  by  the  natural 
philosopher. — Gardener's  Monthly. 


Lord  Kames,  in  conversation  with  his 
gardener  one  day,  said:  "George,  the 
time  will  soon  come  when  a  man  shall 
be  able  to  carry  the  manure  for  an  acre 
of  land  in  one  of  his  waistcoat  pockets.'' 
To  which  the  gardener  replied:  "I  be- 
lieve it,  sir,  but  he  will  be  able  to  carry 
all  the  crop  in  the  other  pocket." 


THE  ROSE. 


BY.  ONE  OF  ITS  ADMIKEES. 


"Child  of  the  summer,  lovely  Rose, 
No  longer  in  confinement  lie; 
Arise  to  light,  thy  form  disclose; 
Rival  the  spangles  of  the  sky. 

"The  rains  are  gone,  the  storms  are  o'er; 
Winter  retires  to  make  the  way. 
Come,  then,  thou  sweetly  blushing  flower; 
Come,  lovely  stranger,  come  away." 

Most  of  the  readers  of  the  Horticult- 
urist are  no  doubt  aware  that  the  cel- 
ebrated Linnaeus,  a  Swede  by  birth,  de- 
vised a  system  and  nomenclature  now 
almost  universally  adopted  by  botan- 
ists, and  according  to  which  the  whole 
vegetable  creation  has  been  divided  in- 
to twenty-four  classes,  which  are  dis- 
tinguished by  the  number  of  stamens 
in  the  flower.  These  classes  are  again 
subdivided  into  orders,  under  each 
class,  determined  by  the  number  of 
pistils  in  each  flower.  These  are  still 
further  divided  into  genera  or  tribes, 
and  the  tribes  into  species  or  individ- 
uals. In  this  arrangement,  the  Rose 
belongs  to  the  icosandria  class,  which 
is  the  twelfth,  (including  a  great  variety 
of  fruit-trees,  as  the  Apple,  Pear,  Cher- 
ry, Plum,  Nectarine,  etc.),  the  blos- 
soms of  which  have  twenty  or  more  sta- 
mens. These  stamens,  in  the  Rose, 
constitute  that  beautiful  array  in  the 
flower,  which  looks  somewhat  like  yel- 
low floss-silk.  In  this  class,  the  Rose 
is  a  genus  of  the  order  polygynia,  in 
which  the  pistils — whose  little  points 
lie  in  the  middle  of  the  blossom — are 
more  than  twelve,  and  placed  in  the 
same  flower  with  the  stamens.  The 
leaves  which  compose  the  corolla,  or 
flower,  are  denominated  petals,  of  which 
there  are  five  in  the  wild  Rose,  which 
is  considered  the  representative  of  the 
genus.  The  calyx  or  flower-cup,  which 
is  usually  a  green  empalement  protect- 


112 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


ing  and  inclosing  the  blossom,  is,  in 
the  Rose,  urceolated,  or  pitcher-shaped, 
quinquefid,  carneous  or  fleshy,  and 
straitened  at  the  neck.  The  seeds  are 
numerous  and  hispid  or  prickly,  and 
affixed  to  the  inside  of  the  calyx. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  distinguish  the 
species  of  the  Rose  from  the  varieties. 
Loudon  describes  seventy-seven  species, 
besides  adverting  to  about  as  many 
more  which  are  not  sufficiently  known; 
and  these,  together,  are  very  far  from 
equaling  the  number  of  well-known 
varieties — for  we  may  see  descriptive 
catalogues  of  more  than  1,500  cultivat- 
ed Roses!  In  striking  contrast  to  this 
multitudinous  array,  others  have  com- 
prised the  sorts  usually  found  in  our 
gardens  under  fourteen  species,  as  fol- 
lows: 1.  Rosa  alba,  the  common  White 
Rose.  2.  Rosa  Alpina,  the  Alpine  Iner- 
mous  or  Unarmed  Rose.  3.  Rosa  Cani- 
na,  the  Canine  or  Wild  Dog-rose.  4. 
Rosa  Carolinensis,  or  Carolina  and  Vir- 
ginia Rose.  5.  Rosa  Centifolia,  or  Hun- 
dred-leaved Rose.  6.  Rosa  Cinnamonea, 
or  Cinnamon  Rose.  7.  Rosa  Eglanteria, 
the  Eglantine  Rose,  or  Sweet-briar 
Rose.  8.  Rosa  Gallica,  the  Gallican 
Rose.  9.  Rosa  Moschata,  the  Musk 
Rose.  10.  Rosa  Pimpinellifolia,  or  the 
Burnet-leaved  Rose.  11.  Rosa  Semper- 
virens,  the  Evergreen  Musk  Rose.  12. 
Rosa  Spinossissima,  or  the  Most-spinous 
Dwarf  Burnet-leaved  Rose.  13.  Rosa 
Villosa,  or  Villose  Apple-bearing  Rose. 
14.  Rosa  Virginiensis>  Virgin  Rose. 

In  modern  systematie  arrangements 
the  Rose  belongs  to  vast  groups  of  flow- 
ering-trees denominated,  from  our  fa- 
vorite, Rosacece;  including  in  immediate 
connection,  on  the  one  hand  the  Rubi- 
ses  or  Brambles  and  the  Potentilla  or 
shrubby  species  of  Cinquefoil,  etc.,  and 
on  the  other,  the  numerous  species  of 
Crataegus  ov  Hawthorn,  of  which  there 
are  about  eighty  sorts  cultivated  in  Eu- 


rope and  America.  Linnseus  himself 
devised  a  natural  method,  divided  into 
fifty-eight  classes  or  orders;  he  ranks  the 
Rose  under  the  thirty-fifth,  or  Sentico- 
so3,  so  called  from  sentis,  a  thorn,  and 
comprehending  the  bramble,  the  briar, 
and  others,  which  resemble  them  in  ex- 
ternal structure. 

The  usual  method  of  propagating  the 
Rose  is  either  by  suckers  detached  from 
the  root  of  the  parent  tree,  or  by  cut- 
tings or  slips.  The  former  are  general- 
ly to  be  obtained  in  sufficient  plenty 
from  the  common  garden  Roses;  but 
the  Moss,  Provence,  and  others,  which 
seldom  send  up  these  suckers,  must  be 
increased  by  cuttings  or  layers.  In  the 
latter  method,  the  branches,  being  bent 
down  and  partly  cut  downward,  are  fas- 
tened with  a  peg  into  the  earth,  and 
covered  with  soil,  until  they  have  struck 
root.  Slips  of  the  monthly  kinds  will 
take  root  with  great  readiness,  either  in 
vials  of  water,  or  in  common  earth. 

The  more  curious  sorts  of  Roses,  how- 
ever, are  generally  produced  and  mul- 
tiplied by  inoculation  or  budding.  The 
usual  process  by  this  method  is,  first  to 
make  a  transverse  incision  in  the  branch 
and  then  another  from  it  downward,  re- 
sembling a  T;  the  rind  is  then  opened, 
by  a  proper  budding-knife,  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  lines,  and  the  bud  inserted; 
the  whole  is  then  tied  close  with  a  string 
of  soft  cotton,  or  matting:  this  is  usual- 
ly practiced  in  spring,  when  the  sap  is 
rising  freely. 

The  diversities  of  the  Rose  are  so  nu- 
merous, that  botanists  have  found  it 
very  difficult  to  determine  with  accura- 
cy which  are  species  and  which  only 
varieties — or  whether,  indeed,  there  be 
properly  more  than  one  species,  which 
is  the  Rosa  Canina,  or  Dog-rose  of  our 
valleys  and  hills.  To  this  sentiment 
many  eminent  writers  have  inclined; 
and  this  also  was  the  opinion  of  Lin- 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOETICULTUKIST. 


113 


nseus,  who  attributed  the  different  va- 
rieties to  culture  and  accident.  What- 
ever may  be  the  claims  of  the  Wild  Dog- 
rose,  or  "Hip-tree,"  to  be  considered 
as  the  ancestor  of  "  royal  Hoses" — up- 
on which  it  appears  very  difficult  to  de- 
cide— certainly  the  flower  itself  posses- 
ses an  elegant  simplicity,  and  a  deli- 
cate fragrance,  hardly  surpassed  by  any 
of  our  wild  flowers.  It  is  plentiful  in 
most  parts  of  the  world,  and  not  less 
so  in  California,  where  I  have  met  with 
it  in  great  abundance,  in  all  parts  of 
Napa  Valley,  and  other  portions  of  the 
State,  and  where,  this  spring  or  sum- 
mer, I  hope  to  greet  it  again  while  pur- 
suing with  rod  and  line  the  rushing 
trout  along  the  brook-side,  when  I  shall 
be  tempted  to  exclaim  with  the  poet : 

"Welcome!    0   welcome  once  again, 

Thou  dearest  of  all  the  laughing  flowers, 
That  open  their  odorous  bosoms  when 

The  summer  birds  are  in  their  bowers. 
There's  none  that  I  love  more,  sweet  gem  than 
thee, 

So  mildly  through  the  green  leaves  stealing; 
For  I  seem,  as  thy  delicate  flush  I  see, 
In  the  dewy  haunts  of  my  youth  to  be, 

And  a  gladsome  youthful  feeling 
Springs  to  my  heart,  that  not  all  the  glare 
Of  this  blossoming  West  could  awaken  there." 

Next  I  will  mention  the  Eglantine  or 
Sweet-Briar,  of  which  there  are  numer- 
ous varieties,  if  not  species.  This  Eose 
is  not  esteemed  for  its  flowers,  which 
are  very  small  and  single;  but  the  pe- 
culiar sweetness  and  fragrance  of  its 
leaves,  especially  when  rubbed  a  little, 
render  it  a  very  valuable  shrub.  It 
grows  indigenously  in  some  parts  of 
England  and  Switzerland,  as  well  as  in 
America.  It  claims  culture  in  every 
garden,  for  this  odoriferous  quality  of 
its  leaves;  and  should  be  planted  in  the 
borders,  and  other  compartments  con- 
tiguous to  walks,  or  near  the  habita- 
tion, where  the  plants  will  impart,  par- 
ticularly in  the  moist  air  of  some  even- 

Vol.  v.— 15. 


ings,   their  refreshing    fragrance   very 
profusely  around. 

But  I  will  close  with  the  exquisitely 
simple  lines  and  beautiful  moral  and 
eulogy  of  another  esteemed  poet : 

"  How  fair  is  the  Eose!  what  a  beautiful  flower! 

The  glory  of  April  and  May! 
But  the  leaves  are  beginning  to  fade  in  an  hour, 

And  they  wither  and  die  in  a  day. 

Yet  the  Rose  has  one  powerful  virtue  to  boast, 

Above  all  the  flowers  of  the  field : 
When  its  leaves  are  all  dead  and  fine  colors  are 
lost, 

Still  how  sweet  a  perfume  it  will  yield. 

So  frail  is  the  youth  and  beauty  of  men, 
Though  they  bloom  and  look  gay  like  the 
Eose; 

But  all  our  fond  care  to  preserve  them  is  vain, 
Time  kills  them  as  fast  as  he  goes. 

Then  I'll  not  be  proud  of  my  youth  or  my  beau- 
ty, 

Since  both  of  them  wither  and  fade ; 
But  gain  a  good  name  by  well  doing  my  duty: 

This  will  scent  like  a  Eose,  when  I'm  dead.' 


THE  BLUE  GUM  AND  ITS  CULTUEE. 


BY    E.     J.  TEUHBULL. 


The  Eucalypti  family  is  rather  nu- 
merous—  there  being  not  less  than 
thirty  species,  of  which  the  "Blue 
(rum,"  or  Eucalyptus  globulus,  ranks 
highest  in  the  estimation  of  Califor- 
nians.  Of  all  trees,  whether  of  this 
family,  or  any  other,  the  "Blue  Gum" 
is  the  most  rapid  grower — besides  pos- 
sessing medicinal  qualities  which  add 
much  to  its  value .  For  a  sparsely  wood- 
ed region,  where  the  temperature  does 
not  descend  below  25  degrees  Fahren- 
heit, no  variety  of  tree  can  be  grown  to 
the  same  size  in  the  same  period  of 
time.  Its  wood  is  valuable  for  fuel  as 
well  as  for  manufacturing.  There  are, 
however,  other  species  of  the  family, 
but  little  known  here  generally  at  pres- 
ent, that  will  at  no  distant  day  become 


114 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


perhaps  even  more  popular  than  the 
"Blue  Gum,"  whose  wood  is  harder, 
closer  grained,  and  better  adapted  to 
the  thousand  uses  to  which  timber  is 
applied.  When  it  becomes  known  that 
this  family  has  among  its  members  spe- 
cies whose  wood  can  be  converted  into 
shingles,  studding,  and  weather-board- 
ing, and  that  buildings  constructed  of 
such  will  be  not  only  remarkable  for 
their  durability,  but  nearly  as  "fire- 
proof" as  are  iron  buildings,  and  on 
which  underwriters  will  willingly  issue 
policies  at  half  the  rates  common  on 
other  buildings,  then  the  value  of  such 
species  will  be  better  appreciated  by 
tree-growers. 

Culture.  —  Make  boxes  about  two 
feet  long  by  sixteen  inches  wide,  and 
from  three  to  four  inches  deep,  allow- 
ing small  holes  in  the  bottom  for  drain- 
age. Fill  up  till  within  half  an  inch  of 
the  top  with  fine  alluvial  soil,  moderate- 
ly rich.  Smooth  the  surface;  sprinkle 
the  seed  evenly  over  it,  and  cover  with 
an  eighth  of  an  inch  of  soil  composed  of 
half  sand.  To  attain  the  best  results 
the  boxes  should  be  placed  in  a  "  cold 
frame,"  described  elsewhere.  If  sown 
in  summer,  the  glass  should  be  shaded 
by  a  covering  of  whitewash  or  light 
muslin.  In  the  absence  of  glass,  make 
a  frame  of  boards  with  a  movable  cover 
made  of  laths  nailed  from  one-quarter 
to  one-half  an  inch  apart,  under  which 
place  the  boxes.  Water  will  be  needed 
daily  if  the  weather  is  warm  and  little 
moisture  in  the  atmosphere,  and  should 
be  applied  with  a  fine  sprinkler.  Seed 
will  germinate  in  from  eight  to  four- 
teen days.  When  plants  are  two  inches 
high,  begin  to  "harden"  them  by  allow- 
ing more  air,  increasing  from  time  to 
time  until  they  have  become  hardy 
enough  to  withstand  the  hot  sun  of  the 
day  and  the  cool  air  of  the  night.  When 
six  inches  or  more  high  they  may  be 


transplanted  to  a  temporary  or  perma- 
nent place,  if  care  is  taken  to  remove  the 
plants  with  some  earth  attached  to  the 
roots — at  least  not  to  allow  the  roots  to 
be  exposed  to  the  atmosphere.  For 
forest  culture,  the  young  trees  should 
be  planted  from  eight  to  twelve  feet 
apart  each  way,  and  between  the  rows 
should  be  cultivated  for  two  years,  when 
they  will  be  strong  enough  in  trunk 
and  root  to  care  for  themselves. 


ACACIAS. 


BY   DB.    KELLOGG. 


A  friend  in  a  letter  under  date  of 
February  20th,  says:  "  If  I  knew  which 
of  the  Acacias  were  trees  or  shrubs,  I 
could  give  them  due  distance  and  bet- 
ter arrangement.  Could  you  inform 
me?" 

Our  information  is  very  limited,  but 
we  may  be  able  to  help  some.  If  the 
names  alone  were  sent,  by  return  mail 
"  trees  "  or  "  shrubs  "  could  be  ehecked 
and  returned. 

Acacia  melanoxylon  (Black-wood  Aca- 
cia) here  grows  large,  with  a  very 
sturdy  body  and  ample  base.  It  is 
quite  a  charm  to  behold  its  bearing  in 
a  storm,  so  stubbornly  upright.  It  is 
at  all  times  clad  in  cheerful  evergreen 
foliage;  perfectly  symmetrical  in  its 
conic  form;  somewhat  decked  in  flow- 
ers at  a  season  when  other  trees  are 
dormant  and  bare.  Mr.  S.  Nolan,  of 
Oakland,  has  a  young  tree  about  twenty 
feet  in  height,  a  perfect  beauty.  The 
wood  is  black,  and  very  much  esteemed 
in  cabinet-work;  regarded  as  very  supe- 
rior for  oars  and  buggy-shafts,  and  for 
ornamental  work  in  general.  Fine  tree 
to  alternate  or  contrast  with  an  avenue 
of  spire-trees. 

Acacia  pendula  (Weeping  Acacia, 
Drooping  Myall).     This  species  and  A. 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUEIST. 


115 


homalophylla  are  both  small,  say  ten  to 
fifteen  feet,  and  graceful  a%the  "Weep- 
ing Willow.  Laden  with  golden  flow- 
ers, with  silvery  attenuated  branches, 
they  are  objects  of  exceeding  beauty. 
Both  have  dark-colored  fragrant  wood 
of  the  sweet  violet  odor  of  rosewood. 
Of  these  the  natives  of  north-eastern 
Australia  make  boomerangs,  sportsmen 
ramrods,  and  the  stockmen  whip-han- 
dles; and  in  general  they  are  very  use- 
ful for  turnery -work.  This  would  prove 
a  great  boon  to  our  dry  plains,  such  as 
the  San  Joaquin  Valley.  The  only  ob- 
jection is,  the  cattle  are  so  exceedingly 
fond  of  it,  they  would  soon  dismantle  a 
forest;  they  will  even  stand  on  their 
hind  feet  to  "  come  the  giraffe"  over 
the  defenseless  Myall  shrub. 

Brevity  requires  that  we  combine  sev- 
eral together  where  a  family  is  so  large ; 
and  even  then  but  few  can  be  noted. 
Formerly  many  of  these  were  termed 
"  Mimosa-trees, "  and  now,  by  the  Eng- 
lish and  Australians  are  called  "Wat- 
tles/' 

A.  cultriformis  (Blade  Acacia)  and  A. 
prominens  (Prominent  Acacia),  are  both 
shrubs,  about  six  feet  high.  The  first 
has  smooth  rather  -  arching  angular 
branches;  leaves  of  light  soft  bloom, 
small,  one-half  to  one  inch  long  and 
broad,  somewhat  triangular  like  the  end 
of  a  shoe-knife  blade,  the  prickly  point 
hooked  (which  leans  -to  one  side),  a 
gland  on  the  middle  of  the  upper  mar- 
gin, one-nerved  nearly  parallel  with  the 
lower  margin.  Flowers  crowded  in 
heads ;  these  racemes  are  both  in  the 
axils  and  on  the  end  of  the  twigs. 
Blooms  in  February  and  March. 

A.  prominens,  similar  in  size  and  gen- 
eral form,  and  flowering  as  above.  The 
leaves  spread  out  and  turn  back,  sickle- 
shaped,  one-nerved,  ending  also  in  a 
prickle ;  a  prominent  gland  on  the  up- 
per margin,  at  the  base. 


A.  lophantha  (Crest-flowered  Acacia, 
or  Elegant  Mimosa),  common  but  ex- 
ceedingly delicate  and  beautiful ;  foli- 
age, opening  to  the  morn  and  closing  at 
eve,  dark  green ;  the  leaves  consist  of 
eight  to  ten  pairs  of  pinnae  or  wings, 
each  one  bearing  twenty-five  to  thirty 
pairs  of  little  linear  bluntish  leaflets. 
The  bunches  of  flowers  oblong-egg- 
form,  in  pairs  at  the  axils.  The  com- 
mon fate  of  this  tree  here  is  to  be  pot- 
ted too  long;  the  roots  become  crumpled 
and  the  tree  therefore  blows  over.  It 
is  somewhat  flat-topped,  ten  feet  high, 
and  very  handsomely  spreading. 

A.  dealbata  (Whited  Acacia).  Like 
the  last  it  is  unarmed ;  distinguished 
from  it,  and  from  A.  mollissima,  at  a  dis- 
tance by  the  soft  gray-green  hue,  in- 
stead of  the  sap-green  color  of  its  kin- 
dred. The  pinnse  of  the  leaves  are 
fifteen-paired,  each  bearing  very  many 
pairs  of  minute  equal  pubescent  leaf- 
lets ;  a  perforated  gland  or  glands  seat- 
ed between  one  (or  more)  of  the  pairs 
of  its  wings;  the  elongated  cluster  of 
flowers  lateral.  This  tree  aspires  to  an 
oblong  rounded  form;  the  foliage  is 
more  closed  in  and  massive  than  most 
of  its  section,  yet  it  is  softer  and  more 
fleecy  than  a  summer  evening  cloud  :  in 
short,  it  has  peculiar  charms  to  our 
taste,  and  is  very  desirable  for  a  middle 
or  foreground  tree  on  a  lawn — attains 
to  ten  or  twenty  feet.  Fine  specimen 
trees  may  be  seen  at  Mr.  S.  Nolan's 
garden,  Oakland.  The  bark  of  this  Aca- 
cia is  so  strong  in  tannin  as  to  require 
some  caution,  or  it  may  "  burn  the 
leather."  It  is  now  an  article  of  com- 
merce ;  also,  an  extract  is  made  from 
it  (and  some  others),  which  is  deemed 
a  more  feasible  form  of  exchange,  and 
is  used  as  a  substitute  for  "  Japan 
earth  "  (terra  Japonica) — an  extract  from 
the  outer  colored  wood  and  bark  of  A. 
catechu  (and  others),  by  boiling,  evapo- 


116 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUEIST. 


ration,  and  drying:  the  purer  form  is  the 
catechu  of  druggists.  Where  astringents 
are  required,  the  bark  may  be  used ; 
brandy  saturated  with  it  forms  an  esti- 
mable wash  for  nipples  to  forestall  or 
cure  any  excoriations  which  the  delicate 
suffer  from  nursing;  also,  for  hoarse- 
ness, relaxation  of  palate  or  fauces,  diar- 
rhoea, ulcers,  canker,  etc.  Here,  too, 
the  "stricken  deer"  that  leaves  the 
herd,  in  lonely  solitude  to  roam,  will 
find  a  living  tablet  of  the  smoothest 
bark  on  which  to  carve  his  "Rosalind." 

[To  be  Continued]. 


JAPANESE  VEGETABLE  WAX. 

The  Japanese  Mail  contains  an  account 
of  the  manner  in  which  this  article  of 
commerce  is  obtained.  The  trees  from 
which  wax  is  made  are  the  Urushi,  or 
Lacquer  -  tree,  the  Yama-  urushi,  the 
Hage-urushi,  better  known  as  the  Ro- 
noki,  and  the  Koganoki.  [  ?  Various  spe- 
cies of  Rhus,  such  as  B.  succedaneum.] 
The  wax  is  made  from  the  rind  of  the 
fruit.  In  places  where  wax  is  manufact- 
ured to  any  great  extent  the  Urushi  is 
not  used  for  its  lacquer.  As  the  trees 
are  not  cut  for  several  years,  they  may 
be  seen  in  the  wax-producing  districts 
growing  to  a  height  of  thirty-five  or  for- 
ty feet.  In  districts  where  the  trees 
are  used  for  their  lacquer  or  varnish, 
they  are  cut  every  seven  or  ten  years. 
The  mode  of  obtaining  the  wax  from 
the  Urushi,  or  Lacquer-tree,  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

Late  in  the  autumn  the  branches, 
heavy  with  fruit,  are  lopped  off  and  tak- 
en into  the  house.  The  fruit  is  pound- 
ed with  a  pestle,  and  then  shaken  in  a 
basket  -  sieve,  so  as  to  separate  seed 
from  rind.  From  this  rind  the  wax  is 
made.  The  mode  of  expressing  it  dif- 
fers here  and  there,  but  in  no  very  im- 
portant   particulars.      The     following 


brief  description  is  taken  from  the  mode 
as  followed  out  in  Sendai  and  Aidzu: 
Boiling  water  is  got  ready  in  an  iron 
caldron,  over  which  a  lattice-work  of 
sticks  is  placed,  and  on  these  some  mat- 
ting. The  sifted  rinds  of  the  fruit  are 
then  laid  out  on  the  matting  and  steam- 
ed, after  which  they  are  placed  in 
hempen  bags  and  again  steamed.  The 
bag,  with  its  contents,  is  then  put  in  a 
wooden  trough,  wedges  on  blocks  are 
inserted  in  the  trough,  and  driven  home 
into  the  bag  with  heavy  blows  from  a 
mallet.  An  aperture  at  the  bottom  of 
the  trough  provides  for  the  egress  of 
the  wax.  The  trough  and  wedges  are 
made  of  Kiaki  wood,  and  the  mallets 
and  blocks  of  wild  Mulberry,  a  very 
hard  wood,  and  well  suited  for  the  pur- 
pose. A  small  quantity  of  oil,  in  the 
proportion  of  about  one-tenth,  is  added 
to  the  wax,  to  allow  of  its  being  express- 
ed more  easily.  It  then  goes  through 
another  steaming  process,  and  is  again 
pounded  in  the  trough. 

Wax  from  the  Yama-urushi,  or  wild 
Lacquer-tree,  is  obtained  thus:  The 
fruit  is  collected  at  the  latter  end  of 
summer,  and  is  at  once  steamed,  with- 
out being  pounded  with  a  pestle,  as  is 
the  case  with  the  Urushi  wax.  The  wax 
is  purified  by  melting.  A  large  tub  of 
cold  water  is  taken  and  placed  under  a 
wooden  tank  having  a  small  aperture 
close  to  the  bottom.  The  melted  wax 
is  then  poured  into  this  tank,  and  es- 
capes through  the  aperture  into  the  tub 
beneath;  while  doing  so  it  is  stirred 
rapidly  with  the  hand,  after  which  it  is 
placed  either  in  matting  or  shallow 
boxes,  and  dried  in  the  open  air  for 
about  fifteen  days. 

The  Hage-urushi,  from  which  wax  is 
largely  obtained,  grows  in  the  south- 
western part-  of  Japan.  This  tree  was 
first  brought  from  the  Loochoo  Islands 
to  Sakurajima,  an  island  near  Satsuma. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


117 


Its  production  has  so  increased  that 
there  are  now  no  less  than  seven  differ- 
ent species.  The  Hage-urushi  tree  is 
raised  from  seed  or  from  slips.  Koga 
wax  is  made  from  the  fruit  of  the  Koga- 
tree,  which  differs  from  the  Urushi  and 
Hage-urushi  trees.  It  is  an  evergreen, 
and  is  largely  grown  in  Ossugori,  in  the 
northern  part  of  Nagato.  It  flowers  in 
the  middle  of  summer,  the  fruit  ripen- 
ing in  autumn,  when  it  is  plucked  and 
soaked  in  water  for  four  or  five  days, 
after  which  it  is  trodden  out  with  the 
feet,  thus  separating  the  outer  rind. 
The  Koga  wax  contains  a  large  propor- 
tion of  natural  oil,  which  in  a  measure 
restricts  its  use  to  cold  and  temperate 
districts.  Candles  made  of  it  show  a 
very  bright  light,  and  if  some  contriv- 
ance could  be  hit  upon  for  extracting 
the  oil,  the  consumption  of  this  wax 
would  be  increased,  as  it  is  very  cheap 
compared  with  the  other  kinds.  Ref- 
use wax  is  used  for  manuring  purposes. 


WILD  FLOWERS. 


BY    AN    AMATEUR. 


"Wild  flowers  may  not  improperly  be 
called  the  true  philanthropists  of  their 
family  and  race.  How  often  do  their 
generous  profusion  and  cheerful  dis- 
play, especially  in  this  paradise  of  flo- 
ral beauty — California — give  a  kindly 
greeting  to  the  solitary  rambler,  or  par- 
ties of  excursionists,  with  their  merry 
children,  who  delight  to  revel  in  their 
blossoming  wealth.  And  how  welcome 
are  they,  gladdening  the  eyes  of  city 
merchants  or  toiling  men  of  business, 
who  breathe  the  fresh  country  air  when 
they  can  spare  a  day  in  the  week;  or  on 
Sunday,  roaming  over  the  hills  of  An- 
gel Island,  or  Saucelito,  or  back  of  Oak- 
land, gathering  handfuls  of  Buttercups, 
Poppies,   Larkspurs,  Lupines,   or  the 


prouder  Foxglove,  with  numberless 
others,  to  carry  home,  and  set  in  the 
most  choice  and  conspicuous  spot  in 
their  dwellings.  So  dear  and  attrac- 
tive are  wild  flowers,  that  one  would 
think  that  everyone  must  love  them. 

"  O,  I'll  never  envy  riches, 

Though  toilin'  at  the  plough, 
There  're  flowers  alang  the  peasant's  path, 
E'en  a  king  might  stoop  to  pu'." 

Although  most  of  us  are  brought  in- 
to contact  in  this  favored  land  and  cli- 
mate with  what  are  generally  regarded 
as  the  more  richly  tinted  and  gorgeous 
productions  of  foreign  climes  —  splen- 
did exotics — yet  for  poems  in  praise  of 
the  Geranium  and  the  Cactus  we  might 
search  in  vain;  while  for  those  which 
celebrate  the  "  wildlings  of  nature," 
have  we  not  enough  to  fill  volumes  ? 
Ay!  volumes  fraught  with  beauty  and 
fragrance,  of  which  the  following  is 
but  a  foretaste  and  a  specimen : 

"  Not  only  with  vine-leaves  and  ears  of  Corn 
Is  nature  dress'd,  but  'neath  the  feet  of  man, 
As  at  a  sovereign's  feet,  she  scatters  flowers, 
And  sweet  and  useful  plants,  which,  born  to 

please, 
Also  essay  to  serve," 

"We  are  too  apt  to  look  upon  part  of 
the  vegetation  with  which  the  earth  is 
covered  — l<  clothed  as  with  a  garment 
of  beauty  " — as  worthless  and  contempt- 
ible, especially  when  there  are  no  blos- 
soms which  with  their  tint  or  perfume 
afford  gratification  to  the  senses;  and 
to  pass  by  "common  weeds"  as  vile 
things,  not  simply  useless,  but  mis- 
chievous. 

"Scorn  not  those  rude  unlovely  things, 

All  cultureless  that  grow, 
And  rank,  o'er  woods,  and  wilds,  and  springs, 

Their  vain  luxuriance  throw. 

"  Eternal  love  and  wisdom  drew 

The  plan  of  earth  and  skies; 
And  He  the  span  of  heaven  that  threw, 

Commands  the  weeds  to  rise. 


118 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


"  Then  think  not  nature's  scheme  sublime 
These  common  things  might  spare; 

For  science  may  detect  in  time 
A  thousand  virtues  there." 

Daily  more  and  more  are  the  mys- 
teries of  nature  unfolded  to  us;  daily 
more  and  more  are  her  "hidden  uses" 
made  manifest.  And  this  is  the  moral 
which  may  be  drawn  from  the  meanest 
weed,  or  blade,  or  leaf  on  which  we 
gaze. 

Of  all  the  creatures  and  objects 
which  minister  to  our  wants  or  pleas- 
ures, flowers  are  the  gentlest,  the  most 
unresisting.  Set  flowers  on  your  table 
— a  whole  bouquet  if  you  can  get  it,  or 
but  two  or  three,  or  a  single  flower — a 
bunch  of  Violets,  which  are  so  plenty 
even  in  the  season  of  winter  here — a 
Rose,  a  Pink,  nay,  the  common  garden 
Daisy.  Bring  a  few  Evening  Primroses 
from  your  last  field  walk,  and  keep 
them  alive  in  a  little  water,  or  stick 
them  in  damp  sand;  preserve  but  a 
bunch  of  Lupines,  or  a  handful  of  flow- 
ering grass  (one  of  the  most  elegant,  as 
well  as  cheap,  of  nature's  productions), 
and  you  have  something  on  your  table 
or  mantel  that  reminds  you  of  the  beau- 
ty of  God's  creation,  and  gives  you  a 
link  with  the  poets  and  sages  who  have 
done  it  most  honor.  Put  but  a  Rose, 
or  a  Lily,  or  a  Violet  on  your  table,  and 
you  and  Lord  Bacon  have  a  custom  in 
common;  for  that  great  and  wise  man, 
it  is  said,  was  in  the  habit  of  having 
the  flowers,  both  wild  and  cultivated, 
set  upon  his  study  table,  morning, 
noon,  and  night,  and  at  all  his  meals. 
Now  here  is  a  good  fashion  that  shall 
always  last  us;  never  changing  with 
silks  or  velvets  or  ribbons,  nor  depend- 
ent upon  the  caprices  of  fashion.  The 
a  la  mode  of  the  garments  of  heaven 
and  earth  endures  forever,  and  we  may 
adorn  our  houses  with  specimens  of 
their  elegant  drapery — with  flowers  out 


of  the  fields,  and  golden  beams  out  of 
the  blue  ether.  The  holiness  of  nature 
is  a  loftier  contemplation  than  the  gild- 
ed saloons  of  the  great  or  the  "  dia- 
mond palaces"  of  the  merchant. 

The  flowers  of  the  field,  independent 
of  their  charms,  form  a  delightful  study 
— a  good  botanical  dictionary  being 
an  assistant  about  their  uses  and  qual- 
ities. 

Thomas  Starr  King  thus  speaks  of 
our  California  wealth  of  wild  flowers: 
"Here  we  have  abundance  of  flowers 
early  in  April,  not  shy,  but  rampant; 
flowers  by  the  acre,  flowers  by  the 
square  mile;  flowers  as  a  visible  carpet 
of  an  immense  mountain  wall,  or  a 
whole  hill-side,  or  vast  plains.  You 
can  gather  them  in  clumps,  a  dozen  va- 
rieties at  one  pull.  You  can  fill  a  bush- 
el basket  in  five  minutes.  And  the  col- 
ors are  as  charming  as  the  numbers  are 
profuse.  Yellow,  purple,  violet,  pink, 
and  pied,  are  spread  around  you,  now 
in  separate  level  masses,  now  two  or 
three  combined  in  a  swelling  knoll, 
now  intermixed  in  gorgeous  confusion. 
Here  are  a  hundred  acres  of  wild  mead- 
ows, stretching  to  the  base  of  hills  near- 
ly 2,000  feet  high — the  whole  expanse 
swarming  with  little  straw-colored  flow- 
ers, orange  Poppies,  squadrons  of  pur- 
ple beauties,  battalions  of  pink,  glow- 
ing brilliantly  with  all  these  and  other 
hues.  The  orange  and  purple  predom- 
inate in  the  mountain  robe.  On  the 
lower  slopes  a  "strange  sprinkling  of 
blue,  gathered  here  and  there  with  in- 
tenser  stripes,  the  general  basis  being 
of  purple,  orange,  and  yellow." 

Then  there  is  no  end  to  the  great  va- 
riety of  wild  flowers,  to  be  found  in  the 
woods,  valleys,  canons,  swamps,  near 
springs,  under  the  shrubs  and  chappa- 
ral,  and  in  shady  nooks. 


Soda  is  called  a  specific  for  plant-lice. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTUEIST. 


119 


THE  CALLA  LILY. 

BY    WILLIAM   SUTHEBLAND. 

Calla  Lilies,  and  Orange-  and  Lemon 
trees,  must  be  especial  favorites  of  the 
fair  sex,  judging  from  the  innumerable 
questions  asked  us  by  our  lady  patrons, 
in  regard  to  their  cultivation,  time  of 
blooming,  etc. 

Thinking  that  some  of  the  fair  readers 
of  the  Monthly  would  like  to  have  some 
information  on  the  subject,  I  give  them 
a  few  notes  below : 

The  Calla  Lilly  (Bichardia  Mlhiopica) 
was  first  introduced  into  Europe  from 
Africa,  about  the  beginning  of  the  pres- 
ent century,  from  which  time  it  has 
been  cultivated  with  more  or  less  suc- 
cess all  over  the  civilized  world,  until 
it  has  become  one  of  the  most  popular 
flowers  we  have — not  only  as  a  window 
plant,  but  also  as  a  bouquet  flower: — 
thousands  of  the  flowers  being  used  by 
our  bouquet  makers  annually;  in  fact, 
very  few  large  bouquets  of  any  preten- 
sions are  now  made  up  without  them, 
and  most  of  our  cut -flower  growers 
have  a  succession  of  the  blossoms  the 
year  round,  receiving  from  ten  cents  to 
twenty-five  cents  for  each  flower,  accord- 
ing to  the  time  of  year,  demand,  etc. 

There  are  some  four  varieties  of  the 
Calla  in  cultivation  —  two  with  green 
foliage,  and  two  with  ornamental  leaves 
— besides  our  own  native  variety,  all 
requiring  about  the  same  treatment, 
and  resembling  each  other  in  the  shape 
of  the  flower,  but  differing  somewhat  in 
size  and  shade,  of  color.  Strictly  speak- 
ing, what  passes  for  the  flower  is  only 
the  spathe  or  sheath  that  envelops  the 
flowers,  the  true  flowers  being  clustered 
together  on  a  short  stem  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  sheath,  those  at  the  base  be- 
ing pistillate;  those  on  the  upper  por- 
tion being  staminate. 

Bichardia  Mthicpica,   the    old  Calla 


Lily,  grows  from  two  to  three  feet  in 
height,  the  leaves  being  green  and  the 
stalks  of  a  brownish  color,  the  sheath 
pure  white  on  both  sides. 

Bichardia  JEthiopica  nana,  a  dwarfer 
variety  of  the  above;  the  spathes  or 
sheaths  are  smaller,  and  can  be  more 
readily  used  in  bouquets,  etc. ;  the  same 
color  as  the  above,  alike  on  both  sides, 
sometimes  of  a  green  shade  in  the  cen- 
tre. This  is  easily  distinguished  from 
the  above  by  its  bright  green  stem. 

Bichardia  variegata  grows  about  one 
foot  in  height;  its  leaves  beautifully 
veined  with  white.  This  variety  must 
be  extremely  scarce,  as  I  have  seen  it 
in  no  other  collection  besides  that  of 
the  late  B.  A.  Fahnestock,  of  this  city. 

Bichardia  alba  maculata  grows  one 
foot  in  height,  resembling  the  preceding 
variety  in  style  of  growth,  shape,  etc. 
Its  leaves  are  beautifully  spotted  with 
long  white  spots,  as  if  some  insect  had 
eaten  the  green  part  out  in'  patches. 
The  spathes  are  small,  and  shaded  with 
purple  in  the  middle. 

Bichardia  palustris,  our  native  varie- 
ty, grows  about  one  foot  in  height.  Its 
leaves  are  heart-shaped;  the  spathes, 
which  are  white  on  the  upper  side,  and 
green  on  the  back,  spread  away  from  its 
clustering  flowers.  This  variety  forms 
no  bulb,  but  can  readily  be  grown  from 
its  long  and  jointed  fleshy  roots;  it  also 
bears  a  conspicuous  cluster  of  red  ber- 
ries in  the  fall. 

While  the  Calla  Lily  is  not  very  fas- 
tidious as  to  soil,  etc.,  I  have  found  it 
to  do  best  in  a  rich,  sandy  loam — say 
about  equal  parts  of  loam -sand  and 
well- rotted  cow  manure.  When  grow- 
ing, it  should  have  abundance  of  water. 
For  this  purpose  it  may  be  grown  in 
pots,  standing  in  pans  of  water,  or  its 
roots  entirely  or  partially  submerged. 
In  this  way  it  can  be  grown  in  fountains, 
and  other  bodies  of  water.    When  done 


120 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


blooming,  it  should  be  dried  up  until 
all  the  leaves  fall  off.  For  this  pur- 
pose the  pots  containing  the  plants  may 
be  laid  down  on  their  sides  in  any  dry 
place,  where,  after  resting  a  month  or 
six  weeks,  the  bulbs  should  be  shaken 
out  of  the  old  earth  and  repotted  in 
fresh  soil.  Removing  all  small  bulbs 
and  side  shoots,  reserve  only  the  strong 
bulbs  for  flowering.  Water  sparingly 
until  they  begin  to  grow;  when  they 
must  have  a  more  copious  supply.  They 
generally  begin  to  bloom  about  four 
months  after  being  potted. — Gardener's 

Monthly. 

»  ♦■ » 

DRYING  NORTHERS  OR  MARCH  WINDS. 

BY    DB.    A.    KELLOGG. 

Apples,  Almonds,  Peaches,  Pears, 
etc.,  are  often  totally  lost  or  sadly 
dwarfed  in  the  struggle  for  existence 
against  the  adverse  withering  winds 
that  sweep  down  from  the  north  only 
for  a  few  days  in  the  spring  months. 
These  winds,  from  some  cause,  are 
dreadfully  drying  and  exhausting  to 
crops  and  especially  to  all  tender  herb- 
growth,  fruit-trees,  shrubs,  Roses,  and 
the  like.  Plants  are  so  very  sensitive 
to  the  depressing  power  of  this  state  of 
the  elements,  that  we  are  almost  in- 
clined to  credit  them  with  anticipating 
the  harm — as  the  poet  has  it, 

"  And  feel  alive  through  all  her  tender  form, 
The  whisper'd  murmurs  of  the  gath'ring  storm, " 

they  shrink  so  suddenly  from  its  bale- 
ful influence.  Some  have  even  thought 
this  palsying  effect  was  due  to  an  elec- 
tric or  vital  divergence,  temporarily  re- 
tarding if  not  arresting  sap  circulation, 
while  exhausting  at  the  same  time  un- 
duly its  own  and  the  soiFs  supply  of 
moisture. 

But  however  we  may  account  for  it, 
the  main  point  is,  to  know  how  best  to 


forestall,  fortify,  and  so  practically 
counteract  its  injurious  influence  at  the 
time,  and- onward  to  "closing autumn's 
farewell  smile."  This  is  done  by  a 
bountiful  and  thorough  irrigation — 
water  being  the  universal  medium  of 
plant  supply  to  meet  the  exhausting  de- 
mand this  hyperborean  sirocco  makes 
so  suddenly  upon  its  resources.  If  this 
be  timely  done,  the  fruit  will  set  well 
in  spite  of  all  adverse  winds,  and  not 
only  produce  abundant  fruit,  but  fruit 
increased  to  double  the  ordinary  size. 
(See  Sowerby's  "Report  to  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society,"  1817.  )  Trees, 
unlike  men,  are  seldom  ungrateful  to 
the  friend  in  need. 


INFLUENCE    OF  TREES  ON   RAIN-FALL 
AND   CLIMATE. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Scottish 
Arboricultural  Society,  a  report  was 
made  by  Mr.  Buchan,  Secretary  of  the 
Scottish  Meteorological  Society,  of  ex- 
periments on  rain-fall  made  atCarnwath. 
"The  forest  selected  contained  about 
sixty-two  acres,  and  a  little  outside,  to 
the  north-west,  was  a  green  knoll  quite 
clear  of  trees.  In  the  interior  of  the 
wood,  and  320  yards  distant,  was  an- 
other knoll  of  precisely  similar  charac- 
ter. Immediately  on  the  top  of  the 
western  slope  of  this  knoll  was  a  bare 
pateh  about  fifty  feet  in  diameter,  and 
this  was  surrounded  on  all  sides  with 
trees  of  various  sorts,  varying  from  for- 
ty to  fifty  feet  in  height.  The  growth 
of  the  greensward  and  of  the  plants 
around  showed  that  the  situation  was 
well  fitted  for  the  inquiry."  Two  sets 
of  meteorological  instruments,  exactly 
alike,  were  placed  one  on  each  knoll,  at 
exactly  the  same  elevation  above  the 
ground.  Observations  were  begun  on 
the  16th  of  September,  1874.  "The 
precise  points  to  be  elucidated  were  the 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


121 


temperature  and  the  condition  of  the 
atmosphere  as  regards  moisture  out- 
side as  compared  with  the  interior 
of  the  wood."  In  the  interior,  the 
highest  temperature  was  79°. 4;  the  low- 
est, 19°;  range  60°.4;  on  the  outside 
(occurring  the  same  day  as  the  preced- 
ing), the  highest,  78°.  1;  the  lowest, 
19°.8;  range,  58°.53.  The  mean  of  all 
the  maximum  day  temperatures  at  the 
station  within  the  woods  was  52°. 2; 
on  the  outside,  51°. 7;  of  all  the  mini- 
mum day  temperatures  inside  the  interi- 
or, 38°.  8;  on  the  outside,  38°. 7.  The 
means  of  the  night  temperatures  were 
very  nearly  identical  at  both  stations 
during  the  whole  period  of  observa- 
tion; except  in  June,  the  difference 
was  never  more  than  a  fifth  of  a  degree, 
but  for  the  days  of  maximum  tempera- 
ture the  averages  show  an  excess  of  half 
a  degree  in  favor  of  the  station  inside. 
"  The  remarkable  result  disclosed  dur- 
ing the  annual  rise  of  temperature  in 
the  spring  and  summer  months  was, 
that  in  the  inside  of  the  wood  the  tem- 
perature was  two  degrees  higher  than 
on  the  outside,  while  during  the  annu- 
al fall  of  temperature  in  the  autumn, 
the  temperature  of  the  day  inside  of 
the  wood  was  in  the  mean  half  a  degree 
lower  than  on  the  outside." 

In  respect  to  moisture,  the  results 
were  as  follow:  The  average  dew-point 
at  9  o'clock  in  the  morning,  was,  at  the 
interior  station,  42°.  5;  at  the  exterior, 
42°;  at  9  in  the  evening,  respectively, 
42°.  2  and  42°.  In  the  month  of  Au- 
gust the  dew-point  at  the  interior  was, 
on  the  average,  41°,  or  .8  higher  than 
at  the  exterior. — American  Sportsman. 

The  Japan  Oaks. — Numerous  species 
of  the  Oaks  of  China  and  Japan  are  now 
coming  into  popular  favor  in  England. 
Their  introduction  into  California  might 
be  a  good  move. 

Vol.  V.— 16. 


VANILLA  BEAN  IN  MEXICO. 

The  Vanilla  bean  (properly  called 
"  Vainilla")  grows  on  a  vine  which,  al- 
though growing  from  the  root,  is  a  par- 
asite, as  it  will  grow  even  cut  from  the 
root,  for  it  takes  its  substance  from  the 
tree  around  which  it  clings  by  means  of 
its  thousands  of  fine  tendrils.  Like  all 
parasites,  there  are  trees  which  are  par- 
ticularly adapted  to  its  support.  They 
are  planted  about  ten  feet  apart,  in 
rows,  at  the  foot  of  small  trees  which 
are  left  in  clearing  the  lands.  They 
begin  to  bear  the  third  year,  and  in  fa- 
vorable years  give  from  $400  to  $1,000 
per  acre.  No  cultivation  is  needed  but 
to  cut  down  the  grass  and  weeds ;  no 
plowing  or  spading  being  necessary. 
The  bean  is  often  gathered  in  Septem- 
ber and  October,  but  as  it  is  not  yet 
ripe,  the  Vanilla  is  of  inferior  quality, 
and  sells  for  a  low  price;  but  if  left  till 
the  end  of  November  or  December  it 
comes  to  perfection.  It  is  then  gather- 
ed carefully  and  spread  out  in  the  sun 
on  mats,  if  the  weather  be  favorable, 
but  if  otherwise  it  is  placed  in  ovens, 
which  processes  change  the  color  from 
a  pale  green  to  a  deep  rich  brownish  or 
purple,  and  at  the  same  time  develop 
the  oil  which  on  pressure  exudes  from 
the  bean.  They  are  then  packed  in 
blankets  while  warm,  and  put  into 
large  tin  cases  to  go  through  a  sweating 
process,  again  put  in  the  sun  and  again 
in  the  blankets  until  they  attain  the 
proper  color.  They  are  then  placed  in 
a  dry  room  upon  shelves  made  of  some 
open  material,  so  that  the  air  can  cir- 
culate under  and  around  them.  This 
evaporates  all  the  watery  part  of  the 
beans.  When  sufficiently  dried  they  are 
put  into  large  cases  ready  to  be  assorted 
into  sizes  and  qualities.  The  person 
that  raises  the  beans  seldom  cures 
them,  for  that  requires  a  good  deal  of 


122 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


care  and  special  attention.  There  are 
about  fifteen  different  classes,  but  they 
are  sold  by  the  packers  at  one  round 
price.  Four  years  ago  the  value  here 
was  $60  to  $70  per  thousand  beans; 
now  they  are  worth  from  $130  to  $180 
per  thousand,  such  has  been  the  in- 
crease in  the  consumption  without  a 
proportionate  increase  in  the  cultiva- 
tion. The  people  will  work  only  about 
one  hundred  days  during  the  year, 
which  provides  them  with  all  they  need, 
and  as  they  will  do  no  more  there  is 
very  little  increase  in  the  production  of 
anything.  When  the  beans  are  assort- 
ed they  are  tied  up  neatly  in  bunches 
of  fifty  beans  each,  and  packed  in  cases 
of  tin  holding  from  two  to  three  thou- 
sand. These  tin  cases  are  lined  with 
tin  foil  and  a  ticket  put  on  the  lid  giv- 
ing the  quality,  size,  and  quantity. 
Some  five  or  six  of  these  tin  cases  are 
put  into  a  neatly  made  cedar  chest, 
which  is  sometimes  lined  with  zinc  and 
hermetically  sealed  so  as  to  prevent 
moisture  from  getting  to  the  Vanilla  in 
transporting,  which  would  ruin  it. 
These  cedar  cases  are  then  sewed  in 
mats,  and  these  are  covered  with  a 
coarse  bagging  to  avoid  the  dangers  of 
transportation  on  mules.  In  this  man- 
ner all  the  Mexican  Vanilla  goes  to 
places  of  sale  in  Europe  and  the  United 
States,  where  it  is  worth  from  $9  to  $20 
per  pound,  the  thousand  beans .  weigh- 
ing from  nine  to  ten  pounds. 

Formerly  France  was  the  great  mar- 
ket for  Vanilla,  but  the  enterprise  of 
some  of  our  American  merchants  has 
diverted  the  trade  to  New  York,  which 
is  now  the  great  depot  of  Vanilla,  and 
parties  from  Europe  come  to  New  York 
to  buy. — Report  of  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


A  Large  Cucumber. — A  "Marquis  of 
Lome "  Cucumber  has  been  grown  that 
measured  thirty-six  inches  in  length. 


INSECTS   AND   WILD   FLOWEKS. 

The  most  recent  treatise  from  Sir 
John  Lubbuck's  pen  is  one  on  British 
Wild  Flowers,  considered  in  Relation  to 
Insects,  forming  a  very  important  num- 
ber in  the  "Nature  Series,"  published 
by  Macmillan  &  Co.,  of  London,  in 
which  the  author's  pet  "  ism"  (Darwin- 
ism) receives  quite  a  respectable  airing. 
The  object  of  the  book  is  to  show  the 
important  part  insects  perform  in  the 
propagation  of  plants.  He  starts  out 
with  the  proposition  "that  if,  on  the 
one  hand,  flowers  are  in  some  cases  nec- 
essary to  the  existence  of  insects,  in-- 
sects,  on  the  other  hand,  are  still  more 
indispensable  to  the  very  existence  of 
flowers;  that  if  insects  have  been  in  ma- 
ny cases  modified  and  adapted,  with  a 
view  to  obtain  honey  and  pollen  from 
flowers,  flowers  in  their  turn  owe  their 
scent  and  color,  their  honey,  and  even 
their  distinctive  forms  to  the  action  of 
insects.  There  has  thus  been  (accord- 
ing to  Sir  John's  opinion),  an  interac- 
tion of  insects  upon  flowers,  and  of 
flowers  upon  insects,  resulting  in  the 
gradual  modification  of  both.  ...  It 
is  obvious  that  those  flowers  which,  eith- 
er by  their  larger  size  or  brighter  color, 
or  sweeter  scent,  or  greater  richness  in 
honey,  are  most  attractive  to  insects, 
will,  cceteris  paribus,  have  an  advantage 
in  the  struggle  for  existence,  and  be 
most  likely  to  perpetuate  their  race." 
"Insects,"  he  adds,  "unconsciously 
produce  changes  (in  plants)  similar  to 
those  which  man  effects  by  design." 
These  propositions,  having  direct  bear- 
ing upon  the  chief  tenets  in  the  Dar- 
winian creed,  are  the  groundwork  of 
Sir  John's  subsequent  inquiries  into  the 
relations  of  insects  to  flowers.  He  ex- 
plains the  anatomy  of  insects  and  the 
structure  of  the  flowers  they  visit  in 
search  of  food;    the   obstacles  in   the 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


123 


way  of  the  self-fertilization  of  flowers, 
and  the  manner  in  which  insects  un- 
consciously act  as  fertilizing  agents. 


SELECTED   PLANTS    SUITED    TO    CALI- 
FOKNIA CULTUEE. 

BY  DB.    A.    KELLOGO. 
YAMS. 

Dioscorea  villosa,  or  Native  Wild 
Yam.  Middle  and  Southern  States. 
An  ornamental  twiner,  with  an  enor- 
mous tuber,  forty  to  fifty  pounds 
weight ;  rarely  eaten. 

D.  alata.  The  Uvi  Yam.  Stems 
twining,  four-angled  and  smooth.  Tu- 
bers eight  feet  long,  and  of  prodigious 
weight,  attaining  to  100  pounds ;  vines 
supported  by  reeds,  poles,  or  bushes. 
Propagated  from  pieces  of  the  old  root; 
matures  in  about  seven  months.  The 
tubers  are  baked  or  boiled.  From  In- 
dia and  South  Sea  Islands. 

D.  purpurea,  Roxb.  India.  In  Ben- 
gal considered  next  best  to  the  above 
(D.  alata). 

D.  globosa,  Roxb.  This  is  said  to  be 
the  most  esteemed  Yam  in  Bengal. 

D.  pentaphylla.  Prickly,  alternate, 
divided  leaves.  Continental  and  insu- 
lar India  and  South  Sea  Islands.  A 
good  Yam. 

D.  aculeata.  The  Kaawi  Yam.  India, 
Cochin  China,  and  South  Sea  Islands. 
Stems  prickly,  hot  angled,  leaves  alter- 
nate. This  species  ripens  later,  and 
needs  no  staking ;  is  raised  from  small 
tubers.  This  Yam  is  of  a  sweetish 
taste,  regarded  as  one  of  the  finest  es- 
culent roots  of  the  globe.  There  is  an 
excellent  variety,  with  flesh  of  a  bluish 
hue,  cultivated  in  Central  America — 
e.  g.,  at  Caraccas  and  occasionally  in  the 
Southern  States — driest  and  mealiest, 
though  not  so  large,  and  of  very  deli- 
cious taste. 


D.  nummularia,  Lamarck.  Tivoli 
Yam.  Continental  and  insular  India, 
also  South  Sea  Islands.  A  high-climb- 
ing prickly  species,  with  opposite  leaves. 
Root  cylindrical,  as  thick  as  an  arm  ; 
the  taste  exceedingly  good. 

D.  opposiiifolia.  India  and  China. 
Not  prickly.      One  of  the  edible  Yams. 

Besides  these  are  a  great  variety  little 
estimated,  but  all  are  ornamental  vines. 
There  are  thirty  species  and  many  vari- 
eties found  in  Brazil  alone,  of  which  we 
have  good  descriptions. 

Our  long  warm  summer  seasons  and 
mild  winters  are  sufficient  to  ripen  all 
the  species  of  Yams. 


One  of  the  oldest  and  best  of  the  va- 
rieties of  the  common  English  Ivy  is  the 
Irish  or  Giant  Ivy  (variety  Ganariensis), 
a  native  of  the  Canary  Islands,  but  in- 
troduced into  Great  Britain  very  many 
years  ago.  It  is  preferable  of  the  spe- 
cies on  account  of  its  more  luxuriant 
growth  and  larger  foliage,  yet  possibly 
it  is  less  hardy.  As  a  basket-plant  it  is 
exceedingly  fine,  and  is  still  in  demand, 
notwithstanding  the  many  new  and 
beautiful  forms.  The  Palmate-leaved 
Ivy  (variety  digitata)  is  very  neat  and 
pretty  for  hanging- baskets,  and  for 
trailing  over  rockeries.  The  foliage  is 
deeply  divided,  not  unlike  the  fingers 
of  a  hand,  hence  the  name. 


Destroying  Weeds  in  Walks. — An  ef- 
ficacious means  to  destroy  weeds  grow- 
ing between  pavements,  in  alleys,  etc.,  is 
to  boil  twenty-four  pounds  of  lime,  four 
pounds  of  sulphur  and  100  quarts  of 
water;  allowing  the  mixture  to  cool, 
and  adding  an  equal  quantity  of  water, 
before  pouring  over  the  weeds — select- 
ing if  possible  a  sunny  day  for  the 
work.  This  will  keep  the  ground  clear 
for  a  twelvemonth. 


121 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Mitmwl  ioftffltfo. 


ANOTHEE  BRIEF    BUT  PLEASANT  VIS- 
IT TO  THE   OAKLAND  NURSERIES. 

Delightful  and  splendid  California's 
early  spring  weather  greatly  enhanced 
the  pleasure  of  a  trip  to  this  beautiful 
garden  city,  as  it  may  very  properly  be 
called. 

The  first  place  we  stopped  at  was  Mr. 
W.  F.  Kelsey's  Nursery  and  Floral 
Establishment,  on  Telegraph  Avenue, 
commenced  in  1852.  Mr.  Kelsey  has 
again  undertaken  the  management  of 
this  business,  with  Mr.  David  Tisch  as 
foreman.  Mr.  Tisch  has  had  much  ex- 
perience as  a  florist  and  propagator  of 
plants  in  various  cities  of  the  Union, 
among  which  as  the  most  prominent 
was  St.  Louis,  where  he  operated  chief- 
ly with  Mr.  Shaw,  the  spirited  propa- 
gator of  the  famous  and  admirable  gar- 
dens, ever  open  for  'the  enjoyment  of 
the  public  of  that  grand  Missouri  me- 
tropolis and  State.  Mr.  Tisch  has  also 
had  considerable  experience  in  Califor- 
nia, as  a  nurseryman.  His  houses  are 
proofs  of  his  diligence  and  skill.  His 
leaf  Begonias  are  in  splendid  growth  and 
condition,  and  are  likely  to  make  good 
show-plants,  as  well  as  many  of  his  nu- 
merous other  plants.  At  this  nursery 
may  be  found  fruit-trees  and  plants  of 
every  variety  and  kind,  evergreens,  and 
ornamental  trees  and  plants,  bulbs, 
Roses,  etc.  Mr.  Kelsey  has  put  up  ad- 
ditional buildings  to  accommodate  his 
many  boarders.  It  is  a  delightful  lo- 
cation to  enjoy  both  country  and  town, 
as  the  street  cars  pass  the  place  every 
five  or  ten  minutes. 

Nearly  opposite  are  Mr.  James  Hutch- 
ison's very  neat  and  finely  appointed 
grounds  and  plant-houses,  the  Bay  Nur- 
sery. Untiring  industry,  energy,  and 
unremitting   attention   have  made  this 


nursery  one  of  the  best  and  most  ex- 
tensive in  point  of  number  and  sorts  of 
trees,  ornamental  shrubs,  and  flower- 
ing plants  in  the  State.  New  and  rare 
plants  receive  especial  attention.  Here 
and  at  Mr.  Hutchison's  Depot  and  Seed 
Store,  Broadway  and  13th  streets,  are 
to  be  found  all  choice  seeds.  Nothing 
can  be  found  more  systematic  than 
both  the  nursery  and  depot. 

The  next  place  we  visited  was  Mr. 
John  Hampton's  "Oakland  Nursery." 
This  nursery  and  its  greenhouses  are  at 
present  on  a  comparatively  small  scale; 
but  everything  can  be  found  here,  am- 
ply sufficient  to  embellish  any  new 
home.  One  of  Mr.  Hampton's  special- 
ties is  the  importation  of  Araucarias 
from  Australia — also  all  the  varieties  of 
Palms  suitable  to  our  climate.  New 
and  choice  plants  receive  all  desirable 
attention.  Next  year  Mr.  Hampton  will 
publish  a  complete  catalogue  of  his 
nursery  and  floral  stock,  which  will 
then  be  sufficiently  large  for  that  and 
every  other  purpose. 

Oakland  Gardens  are  beginning  to 
look  gay  in  their  spring  dress.  We  had 
the  pleasure  of  visiting  Mr.  Harmon's 
handsome  residence  and  grounds.  This 
place  was  commenced,  we  believe,  only 
three  or  four  years  ago.  But  since  that 
time  much  that  is  elegant  and  beauti- 
ful in  building,  premises,  and  planting, 
has  been  accomplished.  A  most  archi- 
tecturally handsome,  graceful  and  spa- 
cious conservatory  of  iron  and  glass — 
truly  a  small  crystal  palace — has  been 
erected.  In  the  two  wings  are  grape- 
ries; in  the  central  portion,  formed  as 
a  high  and  domelike  structure,  is  to  be 
placed  a  large  and  handsome  aquarium 
with  a  central  water-pipe,  and  side 
pipes  conveying  water  through  the 
mouths  of  sculptured  birds  or  fishes. 
At  right  angles  with  the  grape-houses 
are   wings,    in  which   are    placed  the 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


125 


tropical  and  many  other  kinds  of  vege- 
tation. Mr.  Turnbull,  manager  of  the 
garden,  conservatory,  and  plant-hous- 
es, has  invented  a  fluted  iron  grating, 
which  covers  the  walks  in  this  large 
conservatory,  and  on  which  water  is 
poured  from  a  hose,  to  promote  evapo- 
ration and  a  healthful  dampness.  Mr. 
Turnbull  showed  us  in  one  of  the  green- 
houses, among  a  fine  variety  of  other 
plants,  an  attractive  species  of  Primu- 
la—  a  seedling  of  his — with  distinct 
purely  golden  eyes;  a  white  Azalea  (In- 
dica  variegata,  )  with  pink  stripes  and 
variegated  foliage;  also,  Poinsettia  pul- 
cherrima.  We  mention  this  last-named 
plant  on  account  of  the  method  which 
Mr.  Turnbull  has  of  dwarfing  it,  which 
is  by  taking  a  short  cutting  in  the  fall, 
and  striking  it,  which  enables  him  to 
have  a  plant  in  the  spring  with  its  flow- 
ers, as  he  said,  "on  short  legs  instead  of 
its  naturally  very  long  ones."  He  per- 
forms the  same  operation  with  Rut- 
land's beautiful  Thyrsacanthus  rutilans, 
which  renders  it  beautifully  adapted  for 
a  hanging-basket,  with  its  crimson  flow- 
ers drooping  gracefully  below  it.  Mr. 
T.  has  also  some  very  fine  Rhododen- 
drons, with  large  flower-trusses — one 
of  them  colored  a  delicate  pinky  white. 
"We  saw  some  large  beds  of  many  varie- 
ties of  the  Hyacinth,  double  and  single; 
the  old  early  flowering  Euonymus, 
with  its  brilliant  yellow  flowers;  Heaths 
of  various-colored  flowers,  and  a  hand- 
somely planted  rockery;  with  many  hor- 
ticultural attractions  of  fruit-trees,  ev- 
ergreens, and  shrubs,  with  a  good  veg- 
etable garden  nearly  bordering  on  Lake 
Merritt,  some  distance  back  of  the  man- 
sion. 

♦ 

The  collection  of  Pears  in  the  Jardin 
des  Plantes,  at  Paris,  was  begun  in  the 
year  1792.  There  are  now  more  than 
1,400  varieties. 


FLOWERS  AND   PRACTICAL  HINTS  FOR 
THE  GARDEN— FOR  LADIES. 

Spring  -  time  is  come :  for  although 
we,  in  our  highly  favored  California, 
have  more  or  less  hardy  and  tender 
flowers  all  the  year  round,  still  vegeta- 
tion has  some  rest  even  with  us,  and 
Flora  begins  to  deck  herself  more  care- 
fully and  beautifully  in  the  month  of 
March,  and  puts  on  her  most  rich, 
brilliant,  and  precious  jewels  about  the 
latter  part  of  June.  "What  can  be  a 
more  interesting  and  refined  occupation 
for  ladies  than  the  raising  and  care  of 
flowers,  either  in  the  lot,  garden,  house, 
or  conservatory  ?  "What  more  healthful 
and  elegant  employment?  We  would 
like  very  much  to  be  somewhat  instru- 
mental in  creating  among  our  fair  sis- 
ters a  love  for  the  practical  knowledge 
of  the  culture  of  these  nature's  gems, 
so  analogous  to  the  precious  jewels 
with  which  they  are  in  the  habit  of 
adorning  their  persons.  They  are  far 
from  being  so  expensive,  but  in  form 
and  coloring,  at  least,  equal  those  lus- 
trous and  favorite  natural  mineral  pro- 
ductions. A  poet,  addressing  a  lovely 
and  sweet  collection  of  flowers,  thus 
speaks ; 

"You  are  gifts  that  all  may  offer — 
Wealth  can  find  no  better  proffer  ; 
For  you  tell  of  tastes  refined, 
Thoughtful  heart  and  spirit  kind. 
Gift  of  gold  or  jeweled  dresses, 
Ostentatious  thought  confesses  ; 
Simplest  boor  this  boon  may  give, 
Modesty  herself  receive. 
For  lovely  woman  you  w«re  meant, 
The  just  and  natural  ornament  ; 
Sleeping  on  her  bosom  fair, 
Hiding  in  her  raven  hair, 
Or  peeping  out  mid  golden  curls  ; 
You  outshine  barbaric  pearls. 
Let  the  rich  with  heart  elate, 
Pile  their  board  with  costly  plate  ; 
Richer  ornaments  are  ours, 
We  will  dress  our  home  with  flowers. 
Comfort  for  the  aged  eye, 


126 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


For  the  poor  cheap  luxury. 
Though  your  life  is  but  a  day, 
Precious  things,  dear  flowers,  you  say : 
Telling  that  the  Being  good, 
Who  supplies  our  daily  food, 
Deems  it  needful  to  supply 
Daily  food  for  heart  and  eye.*' 

But  let  us  cease  for  the  present  our 
poetry  about  flowers,  and  come  to  mere 
matter-of-fact  concerning  them.  Say 
the  lot  you  have,  dear  ladies,  is  60x100 
feet.  On  the  north  side  may  be  plant- 
ed in  a  bed  about  three  wide  wide,  next 
to  the  house,  Fuchsias,  Ferns,  Bego- 
nias, and  all  plants  requiring  partial 
shade;  also  Azaleas,  Smilax,  Hydran- 
geas, and  other  similar  plants.  Ivies 
and  other  ornamental  vines  are  trained 
on  simple  wire  or  wooden  trellis-work, 
or  on  the  side  of  the  house,  forming  a 
dark  and  rich  background.  On  any 
board  fence,  often  on  one  side,  are 
trained  Clematis, Solanum,  Jasminoides, 
"Wisteria,  and  Sweet-scented  Honey- 
suckle. If  there  is  a  trellis  built 
around  the  front  door,  any  kind  of 
handsome  climbing  Rose-bushes  may  be 
trained  over.  Bound  whatever  internal 
beds  are  made  there  may  be  an  edging  of 
a  small  species  of  Sedum  or  Stone-crop. 
Near  this  edge  plant  a  row  of  Nierem- 
bergia  gracilis  and  rivularis,  a  few  inch- 
es apart.  Beyond  these,  and  in  a  par- 
terre and  nearer  the  house,  is  a  row  of 
variegated  Geraniums.  In  the  centre 
is  planted  a  Dracaena  terminalis  and 
around  it  Nierembergia  variegata,  Ivy 
Geranium,  Lobelias,  Alternanthera, 
Tradescantia,  and  Moneywort.  On 
each  side  of  the  centre  may  be  planted 
Deutzia  gracilis,  Larkspurs,  etc.  For 
a  background  there  may  be  a  row  of 
Cannas.  In  other  larger  beds  there 
may  be  Dielytra,  Peeonies,  Spiraea  Ja- 
ponica,  and  other  herbaceous  plants  and 
bulbs.  Here  Dahlias,  Gladioluses,  and 
some  other  bulbs  may  remain  perma- 
nently in  the  ground.     Some  Eucalypti 


and  Acacias,  with  an  evergreen  or  two, 
may  be  planted  for  both  shade  and  or- 
nament. All  this  is  a  mere  outline. 
In  addition  to  the  above  flowers,  Pe- 
tunias, Verbenas,  Maurandia,  and  Tro- 
poeolum  vines  may  be  planted. 

Some  more  hints  on  such  subjects  as 
the  above  will  be  given  in  future  num- 
bers of  the  Horticulturist. 


DIFFICULTY  OF  GIVING  ANY  GENEEAL 

CERTAIN  EULES  FOE  CULTIVATION 

OF  PLANTS   IN  CALIFOENIA. 

One  of  the  greatest  obstacles  in  ad- 
vancing rules  for  cultivators  in  our 
State  is  the  many  various  climates  that 
are  to  be  found  in  it.  "What  advice  in 
that  respect  experience  has  found  to 
be  applicable  in  one  section  of  the  coun- 
try, will  not  answer  at  all  for  another 
portion,  and  so  on  to  a  very  considera- 
ble extent  all  over  this  slope.  For  ex- 
ample, the  Pansy,  which  flourishes  and 
flowers  well  in  this  city  and  neighbor- 
hood the  year  round,  and  along  the 
more  humid  coast  counties,  will,  for  a 
large  part  of  the  year,  be  found  to  be 
dried  up  in  the  interior  valleys.  The 
same  difference  of  atmospheric  effects 
exists  between  San  Francisco  and  other 
coast  cities  and  towns,  and  their  sur- 
rounding lands:  the  warm  valleys,  the 
foot-hills,  and  the  more  elevated  pla- 
teaus toward  the  Sierra.  Trees,  plants, 
and  flowers  of  all  kinds  are,  therefore, 
more  or  less  affected  according  to  these 
several  locations,  and  each  district  re- 
quires for  its  vegetable  productions,  and 
for  their  well-being  and  prosperity,  a 
particular  treatment.  In  other  words, 
vegetation  depends  much  in  any  part  of 
our  planet  upon  climate,  altitude,  sea- 
coast,  and  interior  surfaces,  and  other 
external  conditions,  just  as  what  may 
be  termed  the  physiognomy  of  a  region 
or   country   arises  from   the   predomi- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


127 


nance  in  it  of  certain  families  or  even 
of  particular  genera  of  plants;  and  an 
intelligent  observer,  even  without  an 
acquaintance  with  the  characters  which 
distinguish  one  species  from  another, 
will  be  easily  led  to  discriminate  the 
general  effect  which  the  prevalence  of 
each  impresses  upon  the  landscape. 
Atmospheric  conditions  in  the  aggregate 
serve  to  constitute  the  definition  of 
climate  everywhere  on  the  globe,  and 
in  California  in  a  comparatively  limited 
extent  are  witnessed  those  climatic  vari- 
eties which,  as  we  have  observed,  ren- 
der it  so  arduous  a  labor  for  us  to  lay 
down  a  system  of  cultivation,  either  in 
book  or  essay,  which  could  much  assist 
the  general  florist  or  fruit-raiser,  but 
more  especially  the  former. 

California  includes  the  warmer,  tem- 
perate, and  the  sub-tropical  zones,  but 
how  much,  also,  as  regards  its  vegeta- 
tion, does  elevation,  or  vicinity  to  or 
distance  from  the  ocean,  and  the  interi- 
or level  and  valley  sections  as  well  as 
Southern  California,  affect  it. 

A  manual  on  the  cultivation  of  flow- 
ers would  be  a  desirable  publication  for 
many,  but  this  would  be  very  far  from 
an  easy  undertaking  in  our  many  cli- 
matic influences  and  effects. 


NEW  AND  BARE  FRUITS  AND  PLANTS. 

A  New  Melon. — "Sutton's  Hero 
of  Bath  Scarlet  Flesh."  This  is  con- 
sidered by  many  the  very  best  scarlet- 
fleshed  variety  ever  brought  out.  It 
was  awarded  the  first  prize  at  the  Roy- 
al Horticultural  Society's  Birmingham 
Show,  with  other  prizes  at  other  places 
in  England.  It  is  very  early,  of  vigor- 
ous growth,  most  delicious  flavor,  hand- 
somely netted  all  over  the  outside,  and 
keeps  well  after  cutting.  It  is  of  mod- 
erate size   and  thin-skinned.     We  ob- 


tain the  above  from  "Sutton's  Spring 
Catalogue  and  Amateur's  Guide  for 
1875,  Royal  Berks  Seed  Establishment, 
Reading,  Berkshire,  England." 

New  Rose  — Duchess  of  Edinburgh, 
Crimson  Tea. — Most  Tea  Roses  are  light 
— a  dark  one  will  be  welcome.  Messrs. 
Yeitch  &  Son  say  :  "  The  color  is  a 
deep  glowing  crimson,  very  free  flower- 
ing, and  from  its  present  appearance 
we  have  every  reason  to  believe  it  will 
make  as  good  a  bedding  variety  as  the 
Crimson  China."  The  flowers  are  large 
and  full,  fine  form  and  substance. 

It  was  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Horti- 
cultural Society's  Show  on  May  13th, 
when  it  received  a  first-class  certificate 
from  the  Floral  Committee,  and  was 
greatly  admired. 


CATALOGUES  RECEIVED. 


From  the  Dingee  and  Conard  Co., 
Rose  Growers,  Westgrove,  Chester  Co., 
Penn. :  "Descriptive  Catalogue  for  1875 
of  New  and  Beautiful  Roses.  Roses  by 
mail  a  specialty."  This  catalogue  pre- 
sents instructions  how  to  grow  Roses  in 
open  ground,  and  Roses  in  pots,  and 
for  winter -blooming,  together  with 
their  insect  enemies. 


The  Japan  Pea. — We  have  received 
from  L.  L.  Osment,  Cleveland,  Tenn., 
sample  packages  of  this  new  vegetable, 
that  in  appearance  is  small  and  differs 
from  the  ordinary  Pea,  but  is  said  to 
be  equally  good  for  table  use  and  in- 
valuable for  stock  food,  as  it  gives  a 
product  of  200  bushels  to  the  acre. 
One  Pea  is  planted  in  a  hill,  and  forms 
a  bush  from  three  to  five  feet  high. 
Those  desiring  to  procure  it  can  obtain 
three  packages  for  $1  currency  by  ad- 
dressing Mr.  Osment,  as  above. 


^ 


128 


THE     CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


OUR  FRONTISPIECE. 


We  believe  our  readers  will  admit  that 
we  have  embellished  our  present  num- 
ber with  a  beautifully  drawn  and  color- 
ed plate,  representing  those  brilliant 
and  favorite  flowers,  the  Single  and 
Double  Tulip,  and  Scilla,  of  the  natural 
order  Liliacece. 

In  a  wild  state  the  Tulip  species  is  a 
most  unattractive  object,  for  it  is  of  a 
dull  brownish  red,  with  no  stripes  or 
other  marking  except  a  circle  of  black 
at  the  base  of  the  petals.  Yet  from  this 
origin  are  all  our  fine  handsome  varie- 
ties obtained. 

The  season  is  just  at  hand  when  these 
showy  flowers  will  be  making  their  best 
display  in  beds  or  as  single  plants.  All 
of  them,  either  planted  in  groups  or 
otherwise,  are  very  desirable  in  the  bor- 
ders of  the  flower  garden  as  affording  a 
rich  display  at  a  season  when  flowers 
are  most  valued.  One  class,  called  par 
excellence  " early ,"  are  particularly  hand- 
some on  account  of  the  great  variety 
exhibited  in  their  colors.  Such  varie- 
ties as  the  Pottebakkers,  Claramond, 
Vuurburg,  Canary,  Vogel,  etc.,  deserve 
a  place  in  every  collection.  The  lovely 
species  Oculus  solis,  on  account  of  its 
rich  color,  and  the  Florentine  for  its 
scent,  are  also  desirable.  Nor  should 
the  gaudy  Parrot  Tulips  be  neglected; 
all  assist  in  forming  a  most  agreeable 
and  gaily  colored  whole. 

The  Scilla  are  very  pretty  bulbous- 
rooted  plants;  all  of  them  hardy,  of 
course,  in  California,  and  very  desirable 
on  account  of  their  early  habit  of  flow- 
ering. S.  mncena,  blue;  bifolia,  red, 
blue,  or  white;  brevifolia,  pink;  and  si- 
berica,  blue,  are  among  the  most  beau- 
tiful and  earliest,  as  they  produce  flowers 
from  December  to  April  in  pots  in  the 
greenhouse  during  winter,  and  bloom 
out-doors  late  in  the  summer.     If  they 


are  intermixed  among  other  large-grow- 
ing plants,  they  will  afford  a  pretty  va- 
riety, especially  those  which  produce 
long  spikes  of  beautiful  flowers,  and 
continue  a  long  time  in  bloom. 

(8>mt$wn&mt. 

LETTER  FROM  HON.   MARSHALL  P. 
WILDER, 

PEESIDENT    OF   AMEKICAN   POMOLOGICAL   SOCIETY. 


E.  J.  Hooper,  Esq. — My  Dear  Sir: — 
I  am  always  pleased  with  your  articles 
in  the  California  Horticulturist.  The 
American  Pomological  Society's  next 
meeting  will  be  at  Chicago,  September 
8th,  9th,  and  10th.  A  great  time  will 
be  had,  and  you  and  your  friends  must 
meet  us  there  with  your  fruits.  The 
circulars  are  now  preparing,  and  will 
soon  be  out.  Please  give  your  readers 
an  article  in  the  Horticulturist,  urging 
upon  them  the  importance  of  the  hints 
contained  in  our  catalogue  of  fruits  for 
fifty  States  and  Territories — the  work 
of  our  most  experienced  men.  There 
is  nothing  like  it  in  other  lands.  No 
other  society  has  made  such  progress, 
and  performed  so  much  work  in  that 
line.  I  will  forward  a  copy  by  mail. 
Yours,  as  ever, 

Marshall  P.  Wilder. 

Boston,  March  25th,  1875. 


The  Largest  Pear  in  the  World. — 
T.  Brehaut,  of  Guernsey,  has  raised  of 
the  Uvedale's  St.  Germain,  six  Pears, 
twenty  pounds,  and  he  asks  whether 
any  one  in  the  world  has  beaten  this  ? 
One  weighed  "all  but"  five  pounds. 
In  his  remarks  on  this  subject,  Mr.  B. 
intimates  that  Belle  de  Jersey  and 
Belle  Angevine  are  not  the  same  as 
Uvedale's  St.  Germain,  which  will  be 
news  to  American  pomologists.  These 
large  Pears  seem  to  attract,  for  Mr.  B. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


129 


says  six  of  his  large  Pears  brought 
nine  guineas.  Some  $8  apiece  is  prof- 
itable Pear-growing,  bnt  it  will  not  do 
to  figure  up  an  acre  at  this  price. — The 
Gardener's  Monthly. 


FEUIT  CULTIVATION,  AND  REPORT  ON 

THE  FRUIT  AND  VEGETABLE 

MARKET. 

BY    E.    J.    HOOPEE. 

There  are  some  fruits,  like  the  Bart- 
lett  Pear  and  the  Newtown  Pippin  for 
example,  that  are  suited  for  almost  any 
country  or  locality  where  the  Apple  and 
the  Pear  can  be  grown  to  profit.  But 
there  are  a  great  many  others  that  are 
adapted  only  to  certain  large  sections  of 
the  States,  as  the  northern  or  southern  ; 
some,  also,  are  confined  to  a  limited 
tract.  Perhaps  there  is  no  portion  of 
the  world  where  so  many  fruits  succeed 
so  well  as  in  the  soil  and  climate  of 
California,  owing  to  its  equable  and 
mild  temperature,  and  originally  fertile 
earth,  either  of  fine  loam  or  more  com- 
pact adobe.  We  are  then  incurring  but 
little  risk  of  committing  errors,  or  mis- 
leading cultivators  of  fruit,  when  we 
bring  forward  any  new  specimen  which 
has  been  found  good  and  profitable  in 
any  of  the  other  States  or  Territories. 
We  have  one  before  us,  namely,  the 
Bassett  Apple,  a  highly  popular  new 
winter  fruit,  originated  in  Connecticut, 
by  W.  D.  Hall,  of  New  Haven  County. 
It  is  so  highly  esteemed  that  "the 
more  widely  known  winter  Apples  on 
the  nursery  lists  have  not  been  able  to 
displace  it.  It  belongs  to  the  Pearmain 
family,  and  it  is  said  to  resemble  the 
Cogswell  Apple  in  general  appearance, 
except  that  it  is  smaller,  and  ranks  me- 
dium as  to  size.  This  will,  probably, 
be  enlarged  in  California,  as  there  is 
no  doubt  that  nearly  all  fruits  and  veg- 
Vol.  v.— 17. 


etables  here  go  beyond  their  Eastern 
size.  The  skin  of  the  Bassett  is  a  rich 
yellow,  nearly  covered  with  red,  mark- 
ed and  streaked  with  bright  red.  Flesh 
white,  compact,  tender,  juicy,  scarcely 
subacid,  with  a  rich,  refreshing  flavor. 
Ripe,  in  the  East,  December  to  Febru- 
ary. A  handsome  dessert  fruit  of  good 
quality.  It  is  reported  as  a  good  bear- 
er. It  has  never  been  sent  out  by  the 
nurserymen.  We  have  already,  in 
America,  2,300  described  Apples,  but  I 
publish  this  new  Apple — the  Bassett — 
because  of  its  apparent  superior  quali- 
ties to  the  majority  of  the  above  im- 
mense list.  It  must  be  a  very  showy 
fruit  for  the  market  and  the  table,  and 
would  likely  be  an  acquisition  as  an  ad- 
dition to  our  late  Apples. 

As  we  have,  and  are  likely  to  have 
continually,  importations  of  new  plants 
and  fruits  from  foreign  lands,  and  es- 
pecially from  China,  Japan,  and  Aus- 
tralia, a  few  brief  remarks  derived  from 
an  experienced  importer  as  to  their 
management  on  the  voyage,  may  not  be 
unacceptable  to  many  cultivators  or 
botanists.  This  importer  states,  that 
what  he  found  most  convenient  was  an 
oblong  box  with  a  span-glass  roof.  Its 
width  inside  should  be  about  eighteen 
inches,  so  as  to  receive  two  rows  of 
square  wooden  pots,  made  to  fit  accu- 
rately. The  glazed  sides  of  the  roof 
should  be  movable,  and  hinged  to  the 
case  by  their  lower  edge  ;  and,  if  possi- 
ble, they  should  be  fitted  with  transpar- 
ent oyster  shells,  easily  procured  at  the 
China  sea -ports.  Hooks  should  be 
adapted  to  the  ends,  for  the  purpose  of 
keeping  the  glazed  sides  open  in  fine 
weather.  The  bottom  of  the  case  should 
be  double,  with  a  cavity  of  half  an  inch 
to  allow  for  the  running  off  of  salt-wa- 
ter in  case  it  gets  in  when  the  decks  are 
washed.  The  whole  should  be  covered 
by   a   water-tight    tarpauling,    without 


130 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


■which  it  would  be  impossible  to  keep 
the  cases  on  deck,  which  is  much  the 
best  place.  "When  the  plants  are  put 
into  the  box,  the  whole  of  the  mold 
should  be  covered  with  moss,  to  pre-* 
vent  its  being  shaken  out  of  its  place, 
and  likewise  to  keep  it  moist.  After 
this  it  should  be  crossed  with  laths, 
nailed  tightly  down.  The  best  situation 
is  where  they  get  plenty  of  sun  and 
light.  If  the  plants  have  too  much 
sun,  shade  them  by  closing  one  shutter, 
or  by  using  the  tarpauling  as  a  shade. 
Some  exposure  to  the  sun  is  indispensa- 
ble to  harden  the  wo#d  and  enable  the 
plants  to  endure  the  vicissitudes  of  cli- 
mate .  Water  sparingly  as  long  as  they 
are  seen  not  to  droop.  They  can  not 
endure  the  salt  atmosphere.  The  peri- 
od of  leaving  China  should,  if  possi- 
ble, be  late  in  the  year. 

But  to  speak  of  our  markets.  About 
the  5th  of  this  month  (March)  some  ex- 
cellent new  Potatoes  appeared  in  the 
market,  and  found  ready  sale  at  6c. 
to  8c.  per  lb.  Inferior  New  Potatoes 
could  be  had  at  almost  any  price,  al- 
though the  range  was  from  3c.  to  4c. 
per  lb.  Mushrooms  were  selling  at  10c. 
per  lb.;  Salsify  at  75c.  per  dozen  bunch- 
es; Garden  Lettuce  at  25c.  per  lb.; 
Horseradish,  20c;  Chile  Peppers,  50c; 
Shives,  15c  per  bunch ;  Cabbage 
Sprouts,  8c  per  lb. ;  Rhubarb,  20c. ; 
Asparagus,  white,  25c;  green,  30c  to 
35c;  Jerusalem  Artichokes,  8c;  Arti- 
chokes, $1  to  $1  25  per  dozen.  Green 
Peas  were  still  high — 8c  per  pound. 

California  Lemons  were  retailing  for 
25c  to  50c  per  dozen.  Oranges  were 
to  be  had  all  the  way  from  15c  to  75c 
per  dozen.  There  was  an  excellent  dis- 
play of  Apples,  some  lots  of  choice  Or- 
egon having  been  recently  received. 
There  were  also  some  good  Oregon 
Pears  at  the  beginning  of  March.  The 
season  of  early  Strawberries  is  close  at 


hand.  Two  years  ago  the  first  lot  of 
early  crop  had  come  to  hand  about  that 
time.  Last  year  the  season  was  back- 
ward and  the  ripening  of  the  fruit  was 
considerably  delayed;  there  has  been  a 
notable  absence  of  warm  weather  so  far 
this  year,  and  there  may  be  a  similar 
delay  in  the  arrival  of  the  Strawberry 
crop. 

The  feature  on  or  about  March  5th 
was  the  first  appearance  of  Cucumbers. 
Receipts  of  Green  Peas  continued  to 
increase.  Asparagus  was  a  little  more 
plentiful  and  cheaper. 

Apples  and  Oranges  were  very  plen- 
tiful. The  receipts  of  Los  Angeles  Or- 
anges were  never  more  liberal,  and 
they  moved  off  slowly  and  at  reduced 
figures.  Oregon  contributed  largely  to 
the  supply  of  Apples,  and  sent  a  few 
Pears.  By  the  box,  Apples  retailed  at 
$1.25  to  $2.25,  delivered.  The  retail 
price  of  Italian  Chestnuts  was  reduced 
to  35c  per  lb. 

The  first  Strawberries  of  the  season 
were  received  about  the  10th  of  March, 
and  retailed  at  $2.50  per  pound.  The 
lot  was  very  small,  consisting  of  only 
two  short  pounds,  hence  the  extrava- 
gant price  at  which  it  was  peddled  out 
to  epicures.  It  is  not  often,  if  ever,  the 
first  Strawberries  of  the  season  here 
command  such  a  high  price.  If  the 
warm  weather  which  had  prevailed  dur- 
ing the  past  week  had  continued,  we 
should  much  sooner  have  had  an  abun- 
dant and  cheap  supply  of  this  delidious 
fruit.  California  Lemons  have  never 
been  more  plentiful,  in  better  condition, 
and  cheaper  than  they  are  now.  The 
supply  of  Oranges,  if  anything,  has 
been  and  still  is  excessive,  and  there 
are  no  signs,  even  up  to  this  month 
(April)  of  diminution  in  the  shipments 
from  the  southern  counties.  The  bet- 
ter descriptions  of  Apples  were  a  little 
dearer  about  the  middle  of  March  than 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


131 


they  had  been  for  some  time  previous. 
Dried  fruit  was  plentiful  about  the  10th 
of  last  month. 

German  Prunes  were  quoted  at  16c. 
to  25c.  per  lb.;  Calif ornia  Raisins,  20c; 
Dates,  25c.  Nuts  were  as  follows : 
Walnuts,  20c.  to  25c.  per  lb. ;  Almonds, 
soft  shell,  imported,  35c.  per  lb. :  do. 
California,  25c. ;  Filberts,  25c. ;  Italian 
Chestnuts,  40c;  Common  Ohio  do., 
badly  damaged  by  frost,  25c;  Cocoa- 
nuts,  15c  each. 

Vegetables  were  improving.  There 
was  a  better  showing  in  new  Potatoes 
at  reduced  prices,  6c  per  lb.  being  the 
top  of  the  range.  Mushrooms  were  re- 
tailing at  15c  to  25c  per  lb.  Aspara- 
gus was  selling  at  12Jc  to  15c  for 
white,  and  25c  for  green.  Artichokes 
were  quoted  at  75c.  per  dozen,  and  Je- 
rusalem Artichokes  at  8c  per  lb.  Rhu- 
barb was  cheaper;  it  was  quoted  at  20c 
to  25c  per  lb.  Shives  were  retailing  at 
15c  per  lb.;  Cabbage  Sprouts,  8c  per 
lb.;  Horseradish,  20c;  Chile  Peppers, 
50c;  Field  Lettuce,  25c;  Green  Peas, 
8c ;  Garlic,  25c ;  String  Beans  were 
not  yet  in,  although  due. 

The  first  Strawberries  above  spoken 
of,  were  from  San  Jose.  The  first  of 
the  new  Tahiti  Oranges  was  expected 
about  the  24th  of  March.  A  few  Pears 
from  Oregon  were  still  in  market  about 
the  middle  of  last  month,  and  there 
was  little  demand  for  them  at  5c  to 
10c  per  lb.  There  was  much  com- 
plaint at  the  small  size  of  New  Potatoes. 
A  few  at  the  top  of  the  sacks  were 
large,  but  the  bulk  of  the  remainder 
was  made  up  of  almost  unsalable  .trash. 
The  producer  is  the  sufferer,  from  the 
low  prices  his  dishonest  practice  obtains. 
The  prospect  of  an  abundant  yield  of 
Strawberries  is  excellent,  and  warm 
weather  will  soon  bring  forward  a  most 
plentiful  supply. 

About  the  19th  of  March  Mission 


Sweet  Peas  were  in  market,  retailing  at 
12^c  per  lb.;  also  the  first  lot  of  this 
season  of  Sugar  Peas  was  received,  the 
price  for  which,  although  very  variable, 
may  be  placed  at  25c  per  lb.  Peas 
did  not  command  more  than  6c,  but 
there  was  a  very  marked  improvement 
noticeable  in  their  condition.  Mush- 
rooms gave  out  about  the  same  time. 
Asparagus  improved,  and  the  supply 
was  increasing:  prices  were,  however, 
steady.  Artichokes  were  cheaper,  sell- 
ing at  50c  per  dozen.  Jerusalem  Arti- 
chokes were  steady  at  8c  per  lb. ;  Rhu- 
barb was  quotable  at  15c  to  20c  per 
lb.,  being  5c  per  lb.  lower  than  last 
week.  New  Potatoes  continue  to  retail 
at  6c  per  lb.  Cabbage  Sprouts  are 
steady  at  8c;  Horseradish  at  20c; 
Chile  Peppers  at  50c;  Field  Lettuce  at 
25c,  and  Garlic  at  25c 

A  good  supply  of  Apples  was  receiv- 
ed by  the  last  Oregon  steamer.  Cali- 
fornia Apples  are  getting  poor;  native 
Red  Cheeks  are  nearly  out  of  the  mar- 
ket altogether.  Pears  are  scarce,  poor, 
and  dear.  There  have  been  no  receipts 
of  Strawberries  from  the  12th  to  the 
20th  of  March.  Semi-tropical  fruit  is 
abundant.  Dried  fruit  is  also  plenti- 
ful. 

Anything  like  a  plentiful  supply  of 
Strawberries  can  not  be  expected  much 
before  the  early  part  of  this  month 
(April).  The  ripening  has  been  retard- 
ed by  recent  cool  weather,  but  the  pros- 
pects of  the  crop  are  flattering,  and  the 
yield  promises  to  be  abundant  and  of 
good  quality. 

The  first  cargo  of  new-crop  Tahiti 
Oranges  arrived  during  the  week.  The 
fruit  is  unripe  and  too  sour  to  have  any 
effect  upon  the  sale  of  the  California 
variety.  The  Mexican  steamer,  which 
arrived  on  Tuesday,  brought  a  few 
packages  of  Limes  and  forty  cases  of 
Oranges  from  a  plantation  back  of  Ma- 


132 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


zatlan.  These  Oranges  are  some  of  the 
finest  ever  received  from  that  country. 
They  arrived  in  perfect  order,  and,  be- 
ing of  large  size,  sweet  and  juicy,  are 
selling  very  readily.  Los  Angeles  Or- 
anges and  Lemons  are  arriving  as  free- 
ly as  ever,  and  are  in  good  demand  at 
slightly  improved  prices.  The  market 
is  fairly  supplied  with  Apples,  but  the 
stock  of  Pears  is  almost  exhausted,  the 
few  remaining  being  mostly  from  Ore- 
gon, and  inferior  in  quality.  California 
Raisins,  Almonds,  and  Walnuts  are  still 
coming  forward,  and  are  displacing  the 
foreign  products  to  a  great  extent.  By 
the  box,  Apples  retail  at  $1.25  to  $2.50 
delivered. 

Asparagus,  Green  Peas,  and  Cucum- 
bers are  more  plentiful  and  cheaper. 
New  Potatoes  in  considerable  quantities 
are  coming  forward  from  Halfmoon 
Bay  and  the  Mission  gardens,  and  re- 
tail readily  at  5c.  to  6c.  per  pound.  We 
quote  Spinach  at  8c,  and  Lettuce  at 
20c.  to  25c.  per  doz.;  Salsify,  8c.  to  10c. 
per  bunch;  Potatoes  by  the  sack,  deliv- 
ered, $2  to  $2.50  per  cental. 

A  few  Strawberries  have  come  in  from 
San  Jose,  which  brought  $2.50  per  lb. 
The  cool  weather  and  frosty  nights  pre- 
vent the  fruit  from  ripening.  Califor- 
nia Oranges  are  now  at  their  best,  and 
are  selling  very  readily,  the  demand  for 
them  not  being  in  the  least  affected  by 
the  cargo  of  Tahiti.  Apples  are  becom- 
ing quite  scarce,  and  prices  are  advan- 
cing.    The  different  qualities  now  retail 

at  $1.50  to  $3  per  box. 

♦ 

Alternanthera  amabilis  tricolor.  — 
This  is  a  charming  variety,  remarkable 
for  the  brilliancy  of  its  large  leaves;  it 
is  of  very  free  habit,  and  forms  a  beau- 
tiful ornament  to  the  flower  garden  in 
the  summer  months,  either  in  small 
beds  or  as  a  border  plant. — New  York 
Horticulturist. 


<&mmm\  $tamtp. 


The  Ailanthus  as  a  Medical  Remedy. 
— The  Archives  de  Medicine  Navale  pub- 
lishes an  official  note,  addressed  by 
Dr.  Robert,  who  is  the  medical  chief  of 
the  naval  division  of  China  and  Japan, 
to  the  Inspector-General  of  the  Health 
Service  in  the  French  navy,  calling  at- 
tention to  a  drug  used  by  the  Chinese 
physicians  in  the  treatment  of  dysentery. 
It  consists  of  the  root  bark  of  the  com- 
mon Ailanthus,  and  is  by  them  employ- 
ed in  the  fresh  state  only;  but  Dr.  Rob- 
ert, having  been  compelled  to  use  some 
that  had  become  dry,  found  no  sensi- 
ble difference  in  its  action  in  the  two 
states.  For  administration,  one  and  a 
half  ounce  weight  of  the  root  is  cut  in- 
to very  small  pieces  and  triturated  with 
two  ounces  of  hot  water  for  a  few  min- 
utes in  a  mortar,  in  order  to  soften  the 
bark,  and  then  strained.  A  teaspoon- 
ful  of  this  strong  infusion  is  adminis- 
tered as  a  dose  morning  and  evening, 
alone  or  in  a  cup  of  tea.  Taken  in  this 
form  it  provokes  vomiting.  The  medi- 
cine is  administered  in  this  manner  dur- 
ing three  days,  the  patient  being  kept 
upon  full  diet.  After  that  time  the  Ai- 
lanthus is  omitted,  and  the  diet  is  al- 
tered to  broths  until  health  is  restored; 
if  there  is  no  cure  at  the  end  of  ten 
days,  the  use  of  the  Ailanthus  is  recom- 
menced. 

Deep  and  Shallow  Roots. — Some  of 
our  best  cultivators  of  fruit  attach  great 
importance  to  inviting  the  roots  of  fruit- 
trees  .to  run  near  the  surface  of  the  soil, 
and  with  this  end  in  view  they  never 
cultivate  nor  tear  up  the  surface,  apply- 
ing a  top-dressing  of  manure  to  com- 
pensate for  the  deficient  cultivation. 
They  raise  excellent  crops  this  way;  but 
they  do  not  give  us  any  experiments  on 
trees  growing   side  by   side,  with  the 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


133 


same  top-dressing  and  a  mellow  sur- 
face added,  to  prove  which  is  best.  The 
matter  seems  at  present  to  rest  on  sin- 
gle opinion  or  "  theory."  J.  H.  Clary, 
a  correspondent  of  the  Prairie  Farmer, 
urges  the  importance  of  the  opposite 
course,  remarking  that  "  experience  is 
better  than  theories;"  then  goes  on  to 
give  his  theory,  and  the  practice  of  some 
western  orchardists  based  on  it.  He 
says  that  ' '  Judge  McGonigal  plants 
his  Grape-vines  at  least  fifteen  inches 
deep;  I  plant  my  fruit-trees  the  same 
depth;  and  Rothius  Scott,  with  or- 
chards of  2,000  of  the  finest  trees  I  ev- 
er saw,  plants  at  least  two  feet,  and 
some  two  and  a-half  feet."  He  fills 
the  hole  partly  at  first,  and  cuts  off  the 
side  roots  to  keep  the  roots  well  down. 
His  object  is  to  keep  the  roots  away 
from  sudden  changes  of  weather,  heat, 
cold,  drouth,  etc.  But  neither  do  these 
cultivators  furnish  us  the  results  on 
other  trees  set  side  by  side  to  test  the 
relative  advantage  of  each  mode.  We 
often  hear  long  speeches  at  horticultur- 
al meetings,  in  which  the  speakers  rec- 
ommend their  own  practice  and  the 
theories  on  which  it  is  based,  but  we 
are  still  left  in  conjecture  as  to  the 
actual  comparative  results. 


Botanical  Gardens. — The  public- spir- 
ited citizens  of  Chicago,  progressive  in 
everything,  and  desirous  of  making  their 
home  what  its  name  expresses — "Gar- 
den City  " — are  taking  preliminary  steps 
for  the  commencement  of  a  Botanical 
Garden  in  the  west  division  of  the  South 
Park  of  that  city.  Her  lovers  of  the 
floral  kingdom  and  others  are  uniting 
together,  and  have  enlisted  the  aid  of 
scientific  men  and  associations  both  in 
this  country  and  abroad,  in  furtherance 
of  their  worthy  enterprise.  Similar  ef- 
forts were  made  in  Philadelphia  a  quar- 


ter of  a  century  or  more  ago,  but  they 
did  not  meet  the  success  that  usually 
attends  all  efforts  of  the  more  vigorous 
and  determined  city  of  the  north-west. 
If  the  latter  determine  to  rival  Paris 
with  her  Jardin  des  Plantes,  it  is  believed 
she  will  make  a  strong  effort  to  that 
end. 

The  Groves  of  Morocco. — The  groves 
of  Rose-trees  and  the  flower  farms  of 
Morocco  are  said,  by  a  recent  traveler, 
to  exceed  in  extent  and  value  those  of 
Damascus,  or  even  those  of  the  valley 
of  Mexico.  The  general  climate  of  the 
country  is  very  favorable  to  this  kind  of 
culture.  Swept  alternately  by  the  breez- 
es of  the  Atlantic  and  the  Mediterranean, 
and  tempered  by  the  snows  of  the  Atlas 
ranges,  the  degree  of  heat  in  Morocco 
is  much  lower  than  in  Algeria,  while 
the  soil  is  exceedingly  fertile.  To  the 
Date-palm  and  to  Orange  and  Lemon 
trees  the  climate  seems  to  be  especially 
suited,  the  Dates  of  Tafilat  having  been 
famous  even  from  Roman  times.  The 
Orange  plantations  are  of  great  extent 
in  various  parts  of  the  country,  while 
Olives  and  Almonds  are  also  staples  ex- 
ported  in  large  quantities.  Seeing  that 
this  fertile  land,  lying  within  five  days' 
steam  of  London,  produces  so  much 
vegetable  wealth  under  the  most  bar- 
barous cultivation,  it  appears  extraor- 
dinary that  European  enterprise  does 
not  in  such  a  climate  seek  profitable 
employment  for  its  over-abundant  capi- 
tal in  its  application  to  the  development 
of  such  vast  resources,  so  close  at  hand, 
instead  of  going  to  so  far  a  field  as  Aus- 
tralia or  America. — London  Garden. 


Thinning  Fruit. — The  value  of  the 
practice  is  well  established,  of  thinning 
out  the  young  fruit  on  overloaded  trees, 
for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  size, 


134 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTTJBIST. 


flavor,  appearance,  and  market  price  of 
what  remains,  and  producing  less  ex- 
haustion to  the  trees.  A  correspondent 
of  the  Maine  Farmer  adopts  the  prac- 
tice of  cutting  and  thinning  out  the 
small  branches  after  the  fruit  has  form- 
ed, taking  off  in  this  way  at  least  half 
the  crop.  He  gets  the  usual  crop  with 
double  the  size  of  the  Apples.  There 
appears  one  objection  to  this  practice — 
the  tendency  to  check  the  growth  of 
the  tree  by  the  removal  of  so  large  an 
amount  of  foliage  while  growing.  It 
might  do  on  strong,  rich  soils,  with 
young  trees  ;  but  young  trees  on  rich 
land  are  not  apt  to  overbear.  We 
would  recommend  caution  and  compar- 
ison. It  should  be  remembered  that 
thinning  out  the  young  fruit  when  small 
is  much  easier  than  to  hand-pick  it 
when  mature. 


A  wkitee  in  the  Sacramento  Record 
says  that  since  the  planting  of  the  vine 
in  California,  over  a  hundred  years  ago, 
the  Grape  crop  has  never  been  a  total 
failure. 

Now,  where  France  possesses  one 
acre  of  land  especially  adapted  to  the 
production  of  the  best  quality  of  Cham- 
pagne wine,  or  where  Germany  posses- 
ses one  acre  peculiarly  calculated  for 
the  production  of  the  still  light  wines 
of  the  Rhine,  or  where  Spain  has  one 
rod  of  soil  on  which  she  can  produce 
the  Malaga  raisins,  California  has  one 
thousand  acres  adapted  to  each  partic- 
ular product.  These  lands  are  lying 
unappropriated  and  unoccupied  all 
along  the  foot-hills  of  the  Sierra  Neva- 
da and  Coast  Range  mountains  from 
one  end  of  the  State  to  the  other,  and 
may  be  had  at  a  price  that  brings  them 
within  the  reach  of  the  poorest  peasant 
of  Europe.  The  man  who  spends  his 
money  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  make  a 


light  delicate  table  wine  from  Grapes 
grown  upon  the  rich  luxuriant  soil  of 
the  Sacramento,  San  Joaquin,  or  other 
California  river  bottoms,  is  doing  just 
as  absurd  a  thing  as  would  be  the  Ger- 
man Rhine  wine  maker  in  attempting 
to  excel  the  Malaga  raisin  maker  in 
his  business  by  drying  the  wine  Grapes 
for  raisins,  or  as  would  be  the  resident 
of  Malaga  in  making  an  effort  to  rival 
the  Hock  or  Rhine  wine  by  expressing 
and  fermenting  the  juice  from  his  Mal- 
aga Grapes. 


The  Temperate  Character  of  our  Cli- 
mate.— In  a  show-window  of  C.  C.  Hast- 
ings &  Co.'s  store,  beneath  the  Lick 
House,  may  be  seen  a  cluster  of  five 
Oranges,  to  which  is  pinned  a  notice  to 
this  effect. 

"  These  Oranges  were  raised  this 
winter,  in  the  open  air,  by  C.  L.  Beard, 
( in  Alameda  County )  within  twenty 
miles  of  San  Francisco.  There  can 
now  be  seen  on  the  same  tree  from  300 
to  500  Oranges,  from  green  to  ripe. 
The  tree  is  seventeen  years  old,  eigh- 
teen feet  high,  and  fourteen  inches  in 
circumference.  This  cluster  broke  off 
from  its  own  weight.  Oranges,  Olives, 
Lemons,  Dates,  Figs,  Grapes,  Peaches, 
Nectarines,  Apricots,  Berries,  etc.,  grow 
in  the  same  garden." 

Mr.  Beard's  is  not  an  isolated  case  of 
Orange  culture  in  the  open  air,  within 
easy  distance  of  San  Francisco. 


Plow  and  Spade  Deep.  —  Diss,  of 
San  Francisco,  who  returned  from  a  visit 
to  his  ranch  on  Cross  Creek  a  few  days 
since,  said  to  us,  "  Tell  the  farmers  to 
be  sure  and  plow  deep."  The  ef- 
fect of  the  two  theories  of  plowing 
is  very  clearly  demonstrated  in  his  Al- 
falfa   field,    where    the    ground    was 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


135 


plowed  three,  six,  twelve,  and  fifteen 
inches  deep.  The  different  depths  show 
a  distinct  shade  of  growth  ranging  up- 
ward in  response  to  the  plow  going 
down.  We  know  of  several  farmers 
who  mortgaged  their  farms  last  fall  in 
consequence  of  their  shallow  plowing 
theory. —  Visalia  Delta. 


Grapes  foe  Hoos. — A  practical  farmer, 
a  man  of  over  twenty  years'  experience 
in  the  Corn  regions  of  the  West,  and 
about  the  same  in  California,  gave  us 
the  other  day  his  candid  opinion  that 
good,  sweet,  well-ripened  Mission  Grapes 
fed  to  hogs  would  make  as  much  pork, 
pound  for  pound,  as  Corn.  Doubting 
on  our  part  led  to  investigation  into 
the  theory  of  fat  and  flesh  production, 
and  though  still  unwilling  to  believe 
that  a  hundred  pounds  of  Grapes  will 
make  twenty  pounds  of  pork — about 
what  Corn  will  do  when  properly  fed — 
we  can  not  but  admit  that  they  may 
pi-ove  very  profitable  for  feeding,  and  as 
this  gentleman  informs  us  that  his  hogs 
will  leave  Barley  or  Wheat  to  eat  Grapes, 
would  recommend  those  parties  who, 
because  wine-making  has  not  been  a 
success  with  them,  and  their  common 
Grapes  are  not  the  things  for  raisins, 
have  meditated  rooting  out  their  vines, 
to  try  this  mode  of  disposing  of  their 
crop.  An  acre  of  vines  when  they  are 
five  years  old  will  bear,  say  10,000 
pounds  of  Grapes.  If  we  place  their 
pork -producing  capacity  at  one-half  that 
of  Corn  we  have  a  thousand  pounds  of 
pork  made  from  an  acre  of  these  con- 
demned vines,  worth,  as  prices  go  here 
in  Grass  Valley,  from  eighty  to  one 
hundred  dollars.  An  acre  of  Grapes 
can  be  raised  and  picked,  after  once 
the  vines  are  in  good  bearing  condition, 
for  less  than  an  acre  of  Corn  can,  and 
yet  an  Illinois  or  Missouri  farmer  will 


raise  three  or  four  acres  of  Corn  and 
feed  it  to  his  hogs  to  make  a  thousand 
pounds  of  pork,  and  when  made  pay 
freight  to  Grass  Valley,  and  sell  the 
pork  to  be  cut  up  and  made  bacon  of 
for  the  very  men  who  have  those  non- 
paying  vineyards. — Foot- Hill  Tidings. 


Adianttjm  Farleyestse. — Probably  one 
of  the  finest  examples  in  the  United 
Kingdom  of  the  beautiful  exotic  Fern, 
Adiantum  Farley ense,  "  The  Queen  of 
the  Maiden-hair  Ferns,"  was  shown  at 
the  exhibition  of  the  Stamford  Horti- 
cultural Society,  September  4th.  It 
was  staged  by  Mr.  Allsop,  gardener  to 
C.  T.  S.  Birch  Reynardson,  Esq.,  Holy- 
well Hall,  Lincolnshire.  Well  grown, 
very  healthy,  and  beautifully  colored, 
this  specimen  must  have  measured  near- 
ly or  quite  three  feet  in  diameter;  and 
the  boldly  arched  elegant  fronds  gave 
it  a  fine  symmetrical  appearance,  which 
did  not  fail  to  excite  the  admiration  of 
all  who  saw  it.  A  single  frond  of  this 
superb  Fern  is  a  sight  to  be  thankful 
for;  but  it  is  when  a  large  and  well- 
grown  example  of  it  meets  the  eye,  that 
one  seems  to  fully  appreciate  and  de- 
light in  its  exquisite  beauty  and  almost 
unrivaled  elegance. — Gardener's  Chron- 
icle.   

Do  any  of  your  readers  know  of  a  Plum 
called  the  "  Winter  Plum  ?"  A  few 
years  si;ice  an  intelligent  Polander  gave 
me  a  few  seeds  that  he  had  brought 
from  the  north  of  Europe.  I  took  but 
little  interest  in  them,  supposing  them 
to  be  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the 
"  German  Prune."  However,  I  plant- 
ed them;  the  most  of  them  came  up  and 
grew  finely.  I  transplanted  four  of  the 
trees,  which  have  borne  several  crops. 
I  can  see  no  difference  between  this 
fruit  and  the  Damson,  only   they   are 


136 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOBTICULTUKIST. 


from  four  to  six  weeks  later  in  ripening 
— coming  in  when  all  other  varieties  are 
gone.  This  lateness  in  getting  ripe 
will,  I  think,  make  them  very  profitable 
to  raise  for  market.  I  am  satisfied  that 
like  the  Damson  they  will  reproduce 
themselves  from  the  seed,  as  the  four 
trees  are  precisely  similar  in  all  respects. 
Do  any  of  your  readers  know  of  this 
Plum  ?  If  so,  will  they  please  give  the 
proper  name  of  them  through  your  col- 
umns?— C.  G.  Cooley,  Adams  Co.,  Ohio. 


Poison  Oak  as  Food  foe  Cattle  and 
Hogs. — Poison  Oak,  the  mere  looking 
upon  which  will  cause  swelling  and 
eruption  upon  some  people,  while  oth- 
ers can  handle  and  work  among  it  with 
perfect  impunity,  is  said  to  be  a  useful 
and  duly  appreciated  shrub  by  some  of 
our  foot-hill  farmers.  Philip  Roberts 
was  asking  Mr.  Underwood,  who  lives 
some  miles  below  here,  and  upon  whose 
place  Poison  Oak  is  plentiful,  not  long 
since,  why  he  did  not  dig  it  out  and  get 
rid  of  it.  "  Why,"  said  Mr.  Under- 
wood, "that  is  one  of  the  best  crops  I 
have  on  my  farm.  Before  grass  starts, 
after  the  rains  have  spoiled  the  dry 
feed,  my  cattle  and  hogs  browse  the 
leaves  and  tops  off  and  seem  to  thrive 
upon  them;  and  later  in  the  spring  the 
hogs  root  up  and  greedily  devour  the 
young  sprouts,  making  a  living  when 
other  food  is  scarce.  Then,  in  the  fall, 
when  feed  is  dry,  stock  will  eat  the 
green  leaves  of  Poison  Oak,  and  mixed 
with  the  dry  grass  it  seems  to  do  them 
good." — Grass  Valley  Tidings. 


A  well-known  botanist,  now  on  a 
visit  to  this  city,  many  years  ago  took 
great  interest  in  the  matter  of  natural- 
izing in  this  State  the  best  known  for- 
eign  grass.      He   addressed  letters   of 


inquiry  to  a  great  number  of  foreign 
countries,  and  especially  to  such  as  had 
a  climate  much  like  ours.  There  was  a 
remarkable  unanimity  in  the  replies, 
naming  Lucerne  or  Alfalfa,  or  the  same 
grass  under  some  other  name,  as  the 
one  grass  which  was  preferable  to  all 
others.  After  some  years  he  returns  to 
find  that  Alfalfa  has  not  only  taken  root 
here,  but  that  the  experimental  stages 
have  been  successfully  passed.  Per- 
haps as  good  an  illustration  as  any 
other  of  the  real  value  of  Alfalfa  in  this 
State  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
where  the  land  is  well  set  in  this  grass 
it  can  be  rented  at  $10  an  acre,  with  a 
good  margin  of  profit  to  the  parties 
taking  it  on  such  terms.  The  roots  of 
this  grass  have  been  known  to  live  sixty 
years. 


METEOROLOGICAL    RECORD, 

Fob  the  Month  ending  March  31,  1875. 

(Prepared  for  The  Hobticulttjrist  by  Thos.  Tennent, 
Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No. 
423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office). 

BABOMETEB. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.23  in. 

do  12m 30.23 

do  3p.m ..30.22 

do  6p.m 30.22 

Highest  point  on  the  31st,  at  12  m 30.40 

Lowest  point  on  the  18th,  at  9  a.  m 30.05 

THEEMOMETEE. 
(  With  north  exposure  and  free  from  reflected  heat.) 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m ... . .  53° 

do  12  m 58° 

do  3  P.M. 58° 

do  6  p.  M 54° 

Highest  point  on  the  10th,  at  3  p.m 68° 

Lowest  point  on  the  14th,  at  9  a.  m 47° 

SELF-BEGISTEBING    THEEMOMETEE. 

Mean  height  during  the  night 43° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  12th 50° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  3d 36° 

■WINDS. 
North  and  north-east  on  4  days ;  south-west  on  4  days; 
north-west  on  20  days;  west  on  3  days. 

WEATHEE. 

Clear  on  16  days;  cloudy  on  6  days;  variable  on  9  days; 
rain  on  6  days. 

BAIN   GAUGE. 

2d 0.33 

4th 0.17 

5th 0.03 

24th 0.22 

27th 0.05 

28th 0.28 

Total 1.08 

Total  Eain  of  the  season  to  date 17.26 


I .  Gladiolus. 


Group  of  Bulbous  Plants. 

3.     Tuberose. 


2.      Tritoma  uvaria. 


THE 


AND   FLORAL   MAGAZINE. 


Vol.  V. 


SAN   FRANCISCO,   MAY,    1875. 


No.  5. 


SEED  -  PLANTING. 


BY   P.     A.    MELLEK. 


[Continued.] 


I  will  now  say  a  few  words  in  favor 
of  the  Stock  (Matthiola)  which  is  now 
grown  to  its  greatest  perfection  in  Ger- 
many, and  has  become  one  of  the  lead- 
ing bedding-plants  everywhere.  Euro- 
pean catalogues  now  enumerate  so  many 
varieties  and  forms,  that  it  seems  diffi- 
cult to  select  from  their  lists.  I  believe 
it  answers  our  purpose,  if  we  will  con- 
fine ourselves  to  three  varieties,  name- 
ly: The  large-flowering  Ten-week  Stock 
for  summer  flowering;  the  Autumnal 
Stock,  for  early  winter;  and  the  Winter 
or  Brompton  Stock,  for  late  winter  and 
early  spring  flowering.  They  are  de- 
cidedly a  most  desirable  feature  in  the 
flower-garden,  and  present  no  difficul- 
ties so  far  as  their  cultivation  is  con- 
cerned. 

Like  the  Pansy,  I  prefer  to  plant  the 
seed  in  pots  or  boxes,  and  find  no  ob- 
jection to  plant  the  three  varieties  men- 
tioned at  one  and  the  same  time,  say  in 
March  or  April;  their  distinct  charac- 
ters bring  them  out  in  their  respective 
seasons,  as  their  names  imply.  Th^ 
seeds  germinate   freely,  particularly  if 

Vol.  V.— 18. 


covered  with  a  pane  of  glass,  but  as 
soon  as  the  plants  are  up,  they  should 
be  aired  every  day,  and  when  the  sec- 
ond or  third  leaves  appear,  the  glass 
should  be  removed  entirely,  in  order  to 
harden  them  well  before  transplanting. 
The  Summer  Stock  should  be  trans- 
planted when  quite  young,  say  a  month 
or  six  weeks  after  the  young  plants 
have  made  their  first  appearance;  the 
Autumn  and  "Winter  Stocks  may  re- 
main in  the  seed -boxes  for  several 
months,  before  transplanting  becomes 
necessary.  To  produce  fine  plants  and 
perfect  flowers,  the  ground  should  be 
kept  clean  and  loose.  As  soon  as  the 
flower-buds  make  their  appearance,  and 
the  single-flowering  plants  can  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  double-flowering 
ones,  the  former  should  be  removed; 
the  main  object  being  the  production 
of  double  flowers.  Imported  German 
seed  is  preferable  to  all  others,  for  the 
same  reasons  as  mentioned  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Pansy. 

Phlox  Drummondii  is  also  a  most  de- 
sirable annual,  and  produces  a  very 
cheerful  effect  during  the  summer 
months.  As  a  bedding-plant  it  has  no 
superior;  it  is  a  neat  and  compact 
grower,  and  a  most  profuse  bloomer. 


138 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Near  the  coast,  I  find  it  does  not  ger- 
minate readily  in  the  open  ground,  the 
climate  apparently  being  too  cool.  The 
seed  should  be  sown  in  pots  or  boxes 
with  glass  covers;  the  young  plants  to 
be  transplanted  with  more  than  ordi- 
nary care,  unless  the  weather  is  cloudy. 
Where  professional  gardeners  are  em- 
ployed, and  frames  or  greenhouses  are 
at  command,  the  surest  and  best  way  is 
to  pot  off  the  young  plants,  and  when 
established  in  the  pots  to  transfer  them 
into  the  open  ground;  but  where  such 
conveniences  are  not  at  hand,  careful 
transplanting  from  the  seed-boxes  into 
the  open  ground  will  answer;  in  which 
case  it  will  be  well  to  shade  the  plants 
for  a  few  days  during  bright  weather. 
In  the  interior  the  seed  may  be  sown  at 
once  in  the  open  ground  as  soon  as  the 
frosts  are  over.  They  will  flower  in 
profusion  from  midsummer  until  late  in 
autumn. 


THE    MAGNOLIAS. 

A  valuable  paper  on  these  admirable 
ornamental  trees  was  presented  to  the 
late  horticultural  meeting  at  Rochester, 
by  Mr.  George  Ellwanger,  and  being 
the  result  of  extensive  experience  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  with 
all  the  kinds  that  can  be  cultivated  at 
the  North,  we  give  it  nearly  entire  to 
our  readers,  its  excellence  fully  warrant- 
ing the  space  it  occupies.  After  some 
introductory  remarks,  Mr.  E.  says: 

"There  is  no  tree  or  shrub,  in  our 
opinion,  whether  deciduous  or  ever- 
green, that  can  compare  with  the  Mag- 
nolia in  effectiveness,  or  take  its  place 
in  all  well-laid-out  public  or  private 
grounds.  Its  superior  stateliness  of 
form  and  splendor  of  growth,  the  size 
and  richness  of  its  foliage,  and  its  lav- 
ish yield  of  fragrant  flowers,  all  tend  to 
place  it  in  the  foremost  rank  among 


hardy    ornamental    trees   and   shrubs. 

"  Its  proper  place  is  on  the  lawn, 
where  it  shows  to  fine  advantage  in 
contrast  with  the  green;  or  it  may  be 
planted  effectively  on  the  border  of 
lawns,  with  an  evergreen  in  the  back- 
ground to  heighten  the  contrast.  Plant- 
ed in  groups,  it  yields  to  no  rival,  and 
its  effect  in  the  early  spring  is  grand  be- 
yond description,  illuminating  the  land- 
scape and  loading  the  atmosphere  with 
its  rich  perfume. 

"  The  Magnolias  are  all  either  indig- 
enous to  America  or  Asia,  and  occupy 
very  similar  parallels  of  latitude.  The 
Chinese  varieties  possess  the  peculiar- 
ity of  coming  into  bloom  before  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  leaves.  On  their  own 
roots  they  are  all  of  slow  growth,  grow- 
ing at  best  into  low,  bushy  trees,  and 
on  that  account,  are  admirably  adapt- 
ed to  be  planted  with  the  larger  varie- 
ties of  shrubs,  or  to  claim  a  place  in 
small  grounds  where  there  is  not  room 
for  anything  larger.  Where  the  space 
is  abundant,  however,  to  give  room  for 
a  finely  developed  tree,  they  should  be 
budded  on  the  Magnolia  acuminata, 
which  adds  materially  to  their  vigor, 
hardiness,  shapeliness  and  size.  The 
French  inarch  them  on  the  purpurea, 
a  dwarf  Chinese  variety  of  less  vigor 
than  the  others,  but  more  easy  of  prop- 
agation. The  acuminata,  however,  is 
far  preferable  with  us. 

"The  Tvlagnolia,  very  erroneously, 
has  long  been  considered  by  many  a 
tender  tree.  This  idea  has  obtained 
prevalence,  doubtless,  from  its  extreme 
shyness  to  being  transplanted.  No 
roots,  to  my  knowledge,  are  so  sensitive 
to  exposure  to  the  wind,  or  sun,  as 
those  of  the  Magnolia;  hence  the  poor 
success  in  transplanting  them. 

"It  often  occurs  that  after  being 
moved  they  survive  for  a  few  months, 
maintaining  a  sickly  existence,  and  hav- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


139 


ing  made  no  roots,  perish  in  the  winter, 
thereby,  unfortunately,  '  strengthening 
the  impression  that  they  are  not  a  hardy 
tree. 

"To  insure  success  in  their  trans- 
planting they  should  be  moved  in  the 
spring — never  in  the  fall — and  the  Chi- 
nese varieties  at  that  period  when  they 
are  coming  into  bloom,  and,  consequent- 
ly, before  the  leaves  have  made  their 
appearance.  Great  care  should  be  ex- 
ercised in  their  removal,  the  fibrous 
roots  being  preserved  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible and  carefully  guarded  from  any 
exposure  to  wind  or  sun.  For  this  pur- 
pose a  cloudy  or  rainy  day  is  prefera- 
ble. While  almost  any  good  soil  is 
sufficient  to  insure  their  growth,  they 
succeed  best  in  a  soil  which  is  warm, 
rich,  and  dry. 

"The  varieties  embraced  in  the  an- 
nexed list,  with  but  one  or  two  excep- 
tions, are  all  of  sufficient  hardiness  to 
endure  the  rigors  of  even  a  New  En- 
gland winter.  On  our  own  grounds  we 
have  a  number  of  specimens  over  thir- 
ty years  old,  as  hardy  and  thrifty  as 
our  native  Oaks.  In  enumerating  va- 
rieties I  shall  call  attention  only  to 
those  which  have  for  years  come  under 
my  observation  on  our  own  grounds. 

AMERICAN   VARIETIES. 

The  Magnolia  acuminata,  or  Cucum- 
ber-tree, as  it  is  often  called  from  the 
resemblance  of  the  young  cones  to  a 
Cucumber,  forms  when  well  developed 
one  of  our  noblest  and  most  finely  pro- 
portioned trees,  often  growing  in  our 
forests  to  a  height  of  from  sixty  to 
seventy  feet,  and  attaining  a  diameter 
of  several  feet.  The  leaves  are  large 
on  young  trees,  and  the  flowers,  which 
vary  from  five  to  six  inches  in  diameter, 
are  yellowish  white,  tinted  with  bluish 
purple.  In  autumn  the  cones  open,  dis- 
playing   the    coral  -  colored,    polished 


seeds,  and  adding  greatly  to  the  charm 
of  the  tree.  The  acuminata,  as  previous- 
ly mentioned,  is  invaluable  as  a  stock 
upon  which  to  work  the  Chinese  and 
other  slow-growing  varieties. 

The  Magnolia  acuminata  variegata  is 
a  variety. of  the  preceding,  with  the  fol- 
iage and  young  wood  striped  with  yel- 
low. It  is  also  of  superior  growth,  and 
is  very  distinct  and  fine.  It  originated 
on  our  grounds  about  fifteen  years 
since. 

"  The  Magnolia  tripetela,  one  of  our 
best-known  varieties,  is  of  medium  size, 
with  immense  leaves  growing  in  clus- 
ters, and  large  white  flowers  five  to 
seven  inches  in  diameter.  This  variety 
is  seldom  seen  with  a  single  stem.  Its 
natural  habit  is  to  throw  offsets  from 
the  base  of  the  trunk,  which,  when  al- 
lowed to  grow,  add  to  its  attractiveness. 
Its  period  of  flowering  is  June,  and, 
while  not  nearly  as  fragrant  as  the  Chi- 
nese varieties,  its  immense  leaves  at  the 
end  of  the  branches  and  showy  cones 
of  seeds  render  it  a  highly  ornamental 
tree. 

'  -  The  Magnolia  Thompsoniana  is  one 
of  the  most  unique  and  attractive  of  its 
species.  Anyone  who  has  passed  a  tree 
in  bloom,  or  even  possessed  one  of  its 
wonderfully  fragrant  flowers,  becomes 
enamored  of  it  at  once.  The  Thorny - 
soniana  is  a  hybrid  of  the  glauca  and 
tripetela.  It  commences  to  flower  near 
the  middle  of  June,  continuing  more 
or  less  during  the  summer.  It  is  the 
rarest  as  well  as  the  most  fragrant  of 
all  the  Magnolias.  It  is,  however,  dif- 
ficult of  propagation.  It  continues 
growing  until  the  latter  part  of  Septem- 
ber. The  young  wood  does  not  always 
ripen  well  on  young  plants,  and  should 
be  protected  with  straw  or  mats  during 
the  winter,  and  planted  where  they 
will  be  sheltered  from  the  west  and 
north-west  winds. 


140 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


"The  Magnolia  glauca,  or  Swamp 
Laurel,  is  of  low  growth,  with  extremely 
fragrant  flowers  and  laurel-like  leaves. 
As  its  name  indicates,  it  is  a  favorite  of 
moist  soils,  never  succeeding  on  lime- 
stone unless  budded  on  the  acuminata. 
Owing  to  its  remarkably  bushy  growth, 
and  handsome  fragrant  blossoms,  it  is 
extremely  valuable  as  an  ornamental 
shrub. 

' '  The  Magnolia  glauca  longifolia  is  a 
variety  of  and  similar  to  the  foregoing, 
but  differing  from  it  in  being  more  vig- 
orous, and  in  its  finer  foliage. 

"The  Magnolia  macrophylla,  were  it 
not  for  its  sensitiveness  to  the  cold, 
would  prove  one  of  our  most  invaluable 
ornamental  trees.  It  is  a  native  of 
North  Carolina,  where  it  grows  very 
luxuriantly,  the  flowers  and  foliage  both 
growing  to  extreme  size.  The  macro- 
phylla is  among  the  rarest  of  the  native 
Magnolias.  It  is  not  hardy  as  far  north 
as  New  York  in  exposed  situations.  If 
planted,  however,  with  judgment,  in  a 
warm  soil  and  protected  situation,  it 
often  does  well.  At  any  rate  it  is  wor- 
thy of  a  careful  trial.  We  have  had  it 
flowering  on  our  grounds  for  several 
years. 

CHINESE  VARIETIES  AND    THEIR  HYBRIDS. 

"Magnolia  conspicua  (Chandelier  or 
Yulan).  In  many  respects  this  is  the 
finest  of  the  Chinese  varieties.  We  have 
always  held  it  in  the  greatest  esteem,  ow- 
ing to  its  being  the  earliest  flowering 
of  all  the  Magnolias,  as  also  for  the 
matchless  whiteness  of  its  flowers.  If 
placed  in  contrast  with  evergreens  or 
the  Forsythia  viridissima,  which  begins 
blooming  at  nearly  the  same  time,  its 
effect  is  almost  startling.  It  has  aptly 
been  christened  "  Chandelier,"  for  there 
is  nothing  to  compare  with  it  in  light- 
ing up  the  landscape  of  early  spring. 
Its  flowers  are  large,  white,  and  extreme- 


ly numerous,  often  numbering  thou- 
sands on  a  single  tree. 

"Magnolia  Soulangeana.  —  This  fine 
variety  is  a  hybrid  of  the  conspicua  and 
the  purpurea.  While  in  general  habit 
it  closely  resembles  the  former,  it  lacks 
its  wonderful  effectiveness,  owing  to 
the  flower  being  tinged  with  purple. 
Coming  in  blossom,  however,  a  few 
days  later,  the  flowers  are  not  as  liable 
to  injury  from  late  spring  frosts  in  the 
Northern  States.  Perhaps  the  Soulan- 
geana has  been  more  disseminated  in 
the  United  States  than  any  other  va- 
riety. 

"  Magnolia  Norbertiana. — It  is  also  a 
hybrid  between  the  conspicua  and  the 
purpurea.  It  differs  from  the  varieties 
previously  mentioned,  in  its  flowers  be- 
ing much  darker,  and,  therefore,  we  re- 
gard it  as  superior  to  the  Soulangeana. 
This  variety  is  still  scarce. 

' '  Magnolia  Lenne. — The  Lenne  seems 
to  be  closely  related  to  the  Norbertiana, 
and  is  doubtless  of  a  similar  parentage. 
In  color  it  is  darker,  and  in  size  some- 
what larger.  It  is  a  decided  acquisi- 
tion. 

"Magnolia  speciosa. — In  habit  of 
growth  this  variety  resembles  the  Sou- 
langeana. The  flowers  are  smaller  and 
of  a  lighter  color.  They  also  come  in- 
to bloom  a  few  days  later  and  continue 
some  days  longer  than  any  of  the  other 
sorts.  It  is  a  remarkably  free  bloom- 
er. For  florists  it  is  the  best  for  cut- 
flowers. 

"Magnolia  obovaia  (Chinese  purple). — 
The  obovaia  is  a  charming  dwarf  varie- 
ty, hardly  ever  seen  over  five  or  six  feet 
high.  It  has  showy  purple  flowers,  and 
blooms  in  the  latter  part  of  May  or  in 
early  June. 

"Magnolia rubra  (Chinese  red). — This 
is  a  variety  of  the  preceding,  of  more 
slender  and  erect  habit,  with  larger 
flowers  of  a  deep  purple  color." 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


141 


COLOKS   OF  FLOWERS. 

BX   E.     J.    HOOPER. 

"We  are  all  rather  at  a  loss  for  words 
to  give  us  an  exact  idea  of  floral  colors 
and  their  various  shapes.  We  are  some- 
times embarrassed  when,  walking  in  a 
rich  and  beautiful  garden,  we  are  called 
upon  to  designate  particular  colors.  "We 
are  annoyed  the  more,  too,  because 
colors  have  for  the  writer  harmonies  as 
ravishing  as  those  of  music,  because 
their  influence  acts  powerfully  upon 
his  imagination.  Horrible  discordance 
in  colors  in  the  paper  or  staining  of  a 
room  where  a  man  may  be  imprisoned 
by  sickness,  is  enough  in  itself,  in  some 
minds,  to  aggravate  the  malady.  So  too 
the  inharmonious  disposal  of  flowering 
plants  in  grounds  or  beds,  or  where 
there  is  too  great  monotony  of  colors, 
is  about  as  great  an  eyesore  to  a  refined 
and  accurate  taste. 

One  of  the  most  disagreeable  things 
to  us  in  traveling,  is  the  manner  in 
which  the  apartments  of  hotels  are  dec- 
orated; yellow  curtains  and  red  fringe, 
chairs  with  red  covers  and  yellow  fringe : 
these  colors,  so  generally  and  barbar- 
ously brought  together  by  upholster- 
ers, produce  with  us  the  most  disagree- 
able impressions.  There  are,  to  us, 
between  colors  and  their  shades,  dis- 
cords as  strong  as  those  that  can  pos- 
sibly exist  between  certain  notes  of  mu- 
sic. There  are  assemblages  of  colors  as 
false  as  the  notes  of  anyone  who  had 
never  had  a  bow  in  his  hand,  but  took 
up  a  violin  and  scraped  away  at  ran- 
dom. Sometimes,  but  fortunately  very 
seldom,  we  meet  with  women  who  al- 
ways appear  in  green  dresses  and  necks 
and  hats  trimmed  with  yellow;  and 
men  who  deck  themselves  in  staring 
purplish  red  vests  and  bright  blue  cra- 
vats. 

With  regard  to  the  correct  names  of 


the  colors  of  certain  flowers  or  insects, 
we  think  perhaps  that  we  shall  all  bet- 
ter understand  them  by  employing  the 
names  of  many  of  our  precious  stones. 
Most  people  seem  better  acquainted  with 
the  colors  and  tints  of  jewels  and  min- 
erals, or  pearls  and  corals,  than  with 
those  of  the  flowers  which  surround 
them.  This  may  be,  probably  because 
vanity  has  attached  a  singular  and  ex- 
cessive value  to  precious  stones,  to  dec- 
orate their  persons,  neglecting  to  notice 
the  more  common  riches  which  nature 
has  spread  with  such  profusion  over 
the  surface  of  the  earth.  It  is  true 
there  are  many  precious  stones  which 
are  singularly  agreeable  to  our  sight, 
but  there  is  not  one  whose  colors  may 
not  be  found  upon  some  flower  or  in- 
sect. Is  not  the  chrysis  a  living  jew- 
el, composed  of  an  emerald  and  a  ruby? 
Do  we  know  a  sapphire  so  blue  as  the 
Tritelia  laxa  of  the  fields,  as  brilliant  as 
the  Salvia  patens,  or  the  blue  Delphin- 
iums, which  flourish  in  our  gardens? 
Discover  if  you  can  among  stones  the 
color  of  the  Scarlet  Geraniums,  and  of 
the  red  Verbenas,  which  eclipse  even 
the  Geranium.  Is  there  a  diamond 
which  has  the  fire  and  colors  of  drops 
of  dew  in  the  sun?  Is  not  a  garden  a 
living  jewel-case,  full  of  jewels  which 
fly,  and  others  that  brightly  and  gaudi- 
ly blossom  and  spread  around  in  addi- 
tion their  perfume  ? 

But  precious  stones  are  dear;  all  the 
world  can  not  have  them,  and  that  is 
the  reason  all  the  world  wishes  for 
them.  The  matter,  besides,  is  not  so 
much  to  see  and  possess  precious  jew- 
els as  to  exhibit  them.  We  have  but 
to  look  around  us;  flowers,  birds,  and 
insects  have  more  varied  and  beauti- 
ful colors  then  they  have.  Besides,  all 
precious  stones  are  so  closely  imitated 
in  glass,  that  few  persons  can  distin- 
guish them. 


142 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Many  colors  have  taken  their  names 
from  certain  precious  stones.  These 
denominations  have  not  much  meaning, 
but  they  vary  singularly  in  their  shades, 
and  even  in  their  color,  as  mineralogists 
will  tell  us.  In  flowers,  as  not  in  gems, 
for  the  purpose  of  designating  color 
we  have  a  complete  gamut,  which  would 
be  wanting  in  no  tone  or  the  fraction  of 
a  tone,  and  a  language  exact  and  well 
arranged.  Some  names  of  colors  have 
been  borrowed  from  flowers;  as  lilac, 
violet,  amaranth,  buttercup,  and  rose. 
Also  the  names  of  fruit:  orange,  lemon, 
plum,  apricot,  and  apple-green. 

Flowers  present  us  more  than  in  any 
other  way  colors  expressed  by  compar- 
isons to  objects  most  familiar  to  us,  and 
in  addition  that  of  containing  in  the 
same  order  of  things  and  ideas  all  col- 
ors and  all  possible  shades.  There  are 
yet  numberless  shades  without  names. 

Let  us  take,  for  example,  the  least 
common  color  among  flowers  —  blue — 
and  let  us  begin  our  gamut.  Certain 
Hyacinths  will  first  give  us  "a  white 
scarcely  tinged  with  blue;  the  Parma 
Violet  is  of  an  extremely  pale  lapis 
blue;  then  comes  the  blue  Geranium 
of  the  fields;  then  the  Chinese  Wistar- 
ia; then  the  Flax-blossom,  and  many 
others.  We  have  no  words  to  express 
the  shades  of  the  Rose.  And  how  can 
we  express  the  shades  of  white  ?  There 
are  four  trees  covered  with  white  blos- 
soms— the  Cherry,  Plum,  Apricot,  and 
Almond.  Other  trees  have  white  blos- 
soms, but  of  a  different  shade. 

Language  is  at  least  equally  poor  in 
its  attempts  to  express  scents  in  flow- 
ers. But  it  must  be  admitted  that  nat- 
ure has  not  bestowed  an  equal  suscep- 
tibility with  regard  to  colors  or  scents 
to  all  persons.  There  are  least  as  many 
people  with  a  false  sight  in  colors  as 
with  a  false  ear  in  music,  and  some  are 
naturally  what  is  called  color-blind. 


RAISIN    BUSINESS— PLANTING  A  VINE- 
YARD. 

The  raisin  business  on  this  coast  is 
bound  in  time  to  be  a  leading  one. 
Better  raisin  Grapes  can  not  be  found 
in  any  climate  than  are  produced  in  Cal- 
ifornia. We  have  a  climate  that  is  also 
generally  very  favorable  for  the  drying 
of  raisins  out  of  doors.  Last  fall  was 
an  exception,  on  account 'of  early  rains. 
The  best  method  of  drying  appears  to 
be  an  open  question  at  the  present  time 
among  viniculturists.  Evidently  the 
Alden  and  other  hot-air  driers  are  not 
the  thing.  No  satisfactory  results  have 
been  obtained  from  such  processes.  It 
does  not  do  to  partially  cook  the  Grape, 
as  Prunes  and  other  fruits  are  treated 
by  the  hot-air  driers,  and  with  a  lesser 
heat  it  takes  too  long  to  be  economical- 
ly done.  Possibly  large  chambers  may 
be  so  arranged  with  glass  roofs  that 
heated  air  in  circulation  can  greatly  as- 
sist the  sun  in  the  drying  of  raisins. 
The  best  raisins  that  have  been  yet 
produced  have  been  dried  in  open  air 
and  sunlight. 

As  the  Grape  is  just  ripe,  it  is  found 
to  be  best  to  nearly  sever  the  vine 
bearing  the  bunches  from  the  main 
stalk,  and  let  it  hang  until  the  Grapes 
are  fully  ripe  and  shriveled  before  pick- 
ing them.  When  the  branch  is  thus 
treated,  the  leaves  absorb  the  moisture 
faster  than  the  main  vine  can  supply 
the  sap,  and  the  Grapes  lose  much  of 
their  water  by  absorption  back  through 
their  stems  to  the  leaves.  This  process 
seems  to  mature  and  concentrate  the 
saccharine  of  the  Grape  and  hasten  the 
drying. 

The  best  bed  to  dry  Grapes  upon  is 
said,  by  those  who  have  experience,  to 
be  fine  gravel  about  four  inches  thick, 
upon  the  dry  ground,  where  sun  and 
air  can  exercise  full  power.     In  locali- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


143 


ties  where  dampness  is  deposited  at 
Bight,  a  shelter  of  canvas  or  other 
convenient  material  is  found  to  be  prac- 
tical. This  may  be  unrolled  over  a 
light  frame  and  rolled  back  with  little 
trouble. 

The  way  to  make  the  best  raisins  with 
the  least  expense  is  the  question.  Aft- 
er they  are  made,  with  as  little  han- 
dling as  possible,  it  is  quite  as  impor- 
tant to  select  the  best  bunches,  cull  out 
all  inferior  berries,  and  box  carefully 
for  market.  Raisins  should  be  assort- 
ed into  extra,  first  and  second  qualities. 

"We  advise  the  planting  of  raisin 
Grapes  on  every  farm  where  they  will 
be  likely  to  do  well.  The  White  Mus- 
cat of  Alexandria  is  the  best  variety  for 
raisins.  Cuttings  should  be  planted 
about  December.  The  ground  does  not 
require  to  be  deeply  plowed.  Good, 
thorough  surface  cultivation  is  enough. 
Cuttings  twelve  to  eighteen  inches 
long,  put  in  with  a  spade,  standing 
about  forty-five  degrees,  will  grow  and 
do  well.  Two  men  can  soon  put  in  an 
acre.  Mark  off  the  land  in  perfect 
squares  eight  feet  each  way,  so  the 
rows  will  be  straight,  and  plant  with 
one  good  bud  above  the  ground.  You 
will  be  surprised  how  quickly,  easily, 
and  cheaply  a  vineyard  can  be  planted. 
Be  sure  to  cultivate  the  surface  soil  so 
as  to  allow  no  weeds  to  grow  the  first 
season,  and  success  is  almost  certain. 
A  bearing  vineyard  can  just  as  quickly 
be  made  from  good  cuttings  as  roots. — 
California  Agriculturist . 


Ceanbeeeies  in  Japan. — A  young  Jap- 
anese, while  in  the  United  States,  ex- 
pressed much  surprise  at  seeing  Cran- 
berries eaten  at  the  table,  and  said  that 
in  the  mountains  of  Japan  they  grew 
very  large  and  beautiful,  but  are  never 
cooked.     Some   old   man   occasionally 


goes  up  to  the  mountain  and  picks  a 
long  basketful  of  them,  which  he  brings 
on  his  shoulders  down  to  the  town. 
Here  the  boys  gather  about  him,  and 
for  a  small  coin  purchase  the  right  to 
crowd  their  pockets  with  them.  And 
what  use  do  you  think  they  make  of  this 
otherwise  useless  fruit?  The  boys 
blow  the  glowing  berries  through  rat- 
tan tubes,  as  our  boys  blow  beans 
through  tin  ones.  That's  what  Cran- 
berries are  used  for  in  Japan,  where 
they  grow  to  great  perfection. 


THE   CULTIVATION  OF   SUMAC. 

The  Grass  Valley  Foot-hill  Tidings 
draws  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
foot-hills  and  other  portions  of  Califor- 
nia offer  opportunities  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  Sumac-tree.  The  leaves  of 
this  tree  are  a  valuable  article  of  mer- 
chandise, being  used  in  the  manufact- 
ure of  leather.  Tanning  is  becoming 
an  important  industry  in  the  State,  and 
Sumac  contains  more  tannin  or  color- 
ing principle  than  any  other  known  veg- 
etable product.  In  Europe  the  best 
Sumac  comes  from  Sicily,  where  the 
climate  greatly  resembles  that  of  Cali- 
fornia. It  is  also  grown  extensively  on 
this  continent,  that  raised  in  Virginia 
being  considered  the  best  article.  The 
Shoe  and  Leather  Reporter  of  a  late  date 
gives  the  following  as  the  present  mar- 
ket rates  for  the  products  for  tanning 
purposes:  "Hemlock  bark  is  quoted 
from  $15  to  $16  per  cord  or  ton;  Quer- 
citron, or  Black  Oak  ground  bark,  $30 
to  $32  per  ton.  Mimosa  bark,  which 
is  procured  in  Australia  and  in  South 
Africa,  is  quite  noted  in  the  English 
market  at  $40  per  ton;  while  the  ground 
Sumac  is  quoted  in  all  these  markets 
for  from  $70  to  $130  per  ton,  as  per 
quality  or  grade."  If  we  are  not  mis- 
taken, some  two  or  three  years  ago  a 


144 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


plant  supposed  to  be  Sumac  was  dis- 
covered growing  wild  in  San  Diego, 
and  samples  were  sent  on  to  Washing- 
ton. It  was,  however,  discovered  that 
this,  like  the  supposed  wild  Coffee,  was 
not  the  genuine  article.  But  there  is 
no  reason  why  the  Sumac-tree  may  not 
be  cultivated  in  California,  as  in  Vir- 
ginia and  other  Eastern  States,  with 
profit  to  the  grower  and  with  advan- 
tage to  the  leather  manufacturing  in- 
dustry. 

»  i  » 

ACACIA  TREES. 

BY    DB.     A.    KELLOGG. 
[Concluded.] 

In  our  zeal  for  the  culture  of  Aus- 
tralian Gums  and  the  other  foreign  tim- 
ber-trees, let  us  not  undervalue  our 
own.  Even  prophets,  as  the  proverb 
of  wisdom  hath  it,  are  not  without  hon- 
or save  in  their  own  country. 

Among  Acacias,  our  native  Locust- 
tree  (Robinia  Pseudo-Acacia)  must  still 
stand  at  the  head  of  the  list,  for  the 
following,  among  many  reasons: 

For  ship-building  it  is  found  to  be 
superior  to  Oak,  Ash,  or  Elm;  and  for 
posts  and  rails,  wet  or  dry,  near  the 
ground,  it  equals  Cedar.  It  is  of  rapid 
growth,  and,  once  established,  is  self- 
perpetuating.  Gracefully  ornamental 
in  foliage  or  flowers,  the  former  a  light 
loose  horizontal  spray  most  delicately 
soft,  gauzy,  feminine,  which  never  fails 
to  grace  lawn  or  copse,  countenancing 
the  grass  and  herbage,  which  thrives 
beneath  its  shade;  with  chaste  white 
flowers,  drooping  like  clusters  of  the 
Virgin's  Bower,  and  fragrant  withal. 
In  point  of  taste  it  pleasingly  contrasts 
with  the  more  sombre  Cypress,  or  deep- 
green  foliage  of  Firs  and  Pines. 

Besides,  it  grows  well  on  any  shallow 
sandy  and  gravelly  soils,  where  Oak  and 
many  other  good   timber-trees  will  not 


thrive;  and  on  good  soils,  tested  with 
Oak,  Ash,  Elm,  Maple,  etc.,  surpasses 
them  all.  On  gulches  and  drainage- 
washes,  creek-banks,  rivers,  etc.,  it  is 
prone  to  shoot  up  groves  of  suckers 
from  interlaced  root-runners,  that  fix 
such  soils  well,  and  so  check  the  incur- 
sions and  wear  and  tear  of  streams  and 
occasional  freshets;  meanwhile  furnish- 
ing the  best  of  browsing  scrub,  timber, 
fuel,  stakes,  everlasting  (?)  hop-poles, 
etc.  One  of  these  suckers  has  been 
known  to  grow  twenty  feet  high  in  a 
single  season,  and  measure  three  inches 
in  circumference,  by  authoritative  meas- 
urement. In  this  respect  its  growth  is 
quite  equal  to  the  Lombardy  Poplar, 
that  so  often  cumbers  the  ground,  or 
the  comparatively  useless  Willow.  All 
this,  mind,  is  mere  underwood;  for 
there  is  no  poisonous  drip,  that  kills 
most  vegetation,  from  these  trees.  At 
the  same  time  the  proper  timber- 
growth  for  ships'  knees,  floor- timbers, 
foot-hooks,  and  straight-grained  trunk 
for  pins,  or  treenails  (trunnels,  for 
short,  as  they  are  called),  go  steadily 
on  prospering  toward  a  never-failing 
market,  for  there  is  no  end  to  the  de- 
mand. Even  the  best  Oak  tillers  are 
known  to  break  sometimes  near  the 
head  of  the  rudder  in  a  gale;  yet  this 
has  never  happened  with  the  Locust. 
This  timber,  though  soft  and  brittle 
when  young  and  green,  is  nevertheless 
very  hard,  tough,  and  elastic  when  of 
proper  age,  grown  in  open  exposures, 
and  well-seasoned.  Tillers  of  all  sea- 
going vessels  at  the  East  are  now  made 
of  the  Locust. 

To  prepare  the  hard-coated  seeds, 
pour  on  boiling  water  and  let  it  stand  a 
day,  then  pour  off  the  water  and  select 
out  all  the  seed  that  are  swelled;  pour 
on  boiling  water  again,  and  after  stand- 
ing a  day  pour  off  and  select  the  swell- 
ed seed  as  before;  then  repeat.     Plant 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


145 


in  drills  four  feet  apart;  in  eight  to  ten 
days  they  will  come  up  as  regularly  as 
Beans  or  any  other  garden  seed. 

All  timber-trees  should  by  no  means 
be  mutilated  at  all  at  the  roots. 

We  have  not  spoken  of  these  trees 
for  hedges,  but  they  bear  clipping,  and 
when  woven  readily  graft  or  coalesce  at 
the  point  of  contact,  and  soon  give  a 
solid  wall  of  twelve  to  thirteen  feet 
high,  and  make  good  substantial  wind- 
breaks, etc. 

Acacia  ■mollissima,  or  Very-soft  Aca- 
cia, is  a  tree  here  of  fifteen  to  twenty 
feet  in  height,  of  somewhat  rounded 
form;  the  foliage  of  a  soft  green  hue; 
branches  and  leaf-stems  angular,  pu- 
bescent; leaves  of  eight  to  ten  pairs  of 
wing  divisions,  each  bearing  thirty  to 
forty  pairs  of  linear  much -crowded 
pubescent  leaflets,  a  gland  between  each 
pair  of  pinnae;  heads  of  flowers  on  stem- 
lets  disposed  in  racemes  along  the  aux- 
iliary flower-stems,  and  so  presenting 
one  vast  mass  of  fragrant  golden  blos- 
soms, which  magnanimously  cheer  the 
winter  months  of  California.  The  bark 
is  valuable  for  tanning,  and  the  gum 
for  food.  Unlike  the  "Black -wood 
Acacia"  (A.  melanoxylon)  it  requires 
some  pruning,  or  to  be  sheltered  from 
the  force  of  high  winds.  The  same 
maybe  said  of  A.iloribunda,  or  Bundle- 
flowered  Acacia;  (Syn.  fragrans — per- 
haps some  may  consider  retinoides  the 
true  name).  Without  extending  this 
article  through  the  great  family,  we  can 
only  briefly  say,  this  tree  is  one  of  the 
most  desirable  because  a  perpetual 
bloomer.  Like  those  of  superabound- 
ing  humor,  who  sweetly  scatter  flowers 
along  life's  social  circles,  so  this  charm- 
ing tree  carries  onward  the  summer  joy 
and  the  songs  of  flowers  into  autumn 
brown  and  sear;  indeed,  encircling  for- 
ever with  a  golden  garland  of  fragrant 
flowers  Time's  rolling  years. 

Vol.  V.— 19. 


LIQUID  MANURE  FOR  POT- PLANTS. 

The  beneficial  results  obtained  from 
manure  water,  when  judiciously  ap- 
plied to  fruiting  and  flowering  plants, 
have  long  been  recognized  by  cultiva- 
tors; and  its  use  is  now  becoming  more 
general.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
roots  of  plants  are  more  healthy  when 
growing  in  pure  soil  free  from  rank 
manure,  and  that  these  roots  will  draw 
more  healthy  nourishment  to  the  plants 
from  manure  given  in  a  liquid  state, 
than  when  they  are  incased  in  rank 
material  which  they  can  not  consume. 
We  know  that  our  most  successful 
Grape  -  growers  use  very  little  solid 
manure  in  the  soil — only  a  few  bones 
or  bone  meal,  or  similar  material, 
which  can  not  give  off  more  stimulant 
than  the  plants  can  consume.  These 
will  remain  much  longer  in  the  soil 
than  manure,  which  dissolves  rapidly, 
and  continue  their  action  as  a  fertilizer 
to  the  end. 

The  successful  florist  has  more  faith 
in  giving  stimulants  when  the  plant 
really  needs  them,  than  in  keeping  the 
roots  buried  in  soil  made  rich  and  al- 
most offensive  by  strong  manure.  When 
roots  are  few  and  the  plants  almost  at 
rest,  the  purer  the  soil  and  the  less 
stimulant  the  plants  receive,  the  better 
will  they  thrive  when  their  roots  come 
to  draw  up  larger  supplies  of  nourish- 
ment. Moisture  is  needed  to  soften 
the  soil  and  to  allow  the  roots  to  ex- 
tract nourishment  from  it;  but  when  all 
the  virtue  is  out  of  the  earth,  and  the 
plants  begin  to  show  signs  of  distress, 
all  the  watering  in  the  world  will  not 
give  vigor  to  the  exhausted  functions. 
But  let  a  portion  of  guano  or  any  well 
prepared  manure  be  mixed  with  the 
water  sufficient  to  color  it,  and  let  this 
be  repeated  at  every  watering  instead 
of  giving  a  much  stronger  dose  at  long- 


146 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOBTICULTUBIST. 


er  intervals,  and  the  result  "will  be 
most  satisfactory.  We  have  tried  a 
number  of  experiments  this  season  with 
liquid  manure,  and  all  lead  us  to  have 
faith  in  the  application  of  it,  at  every 
watering,  in  a  weakly  state. 

A  number  of  old  Fuchsias  were  stunt- 
ed and  pot-bound,  but  pressure  of 
more  important  matters  prevented  our 
potting  them  into  fresh  earth;  but  to 
each  watering  a  coloring  of  guano  was 
allowed,  and  the  plants  with  their  pot- 
bound  roots  have  not  only  made  vigor- 
ous growth  but  flowered  freely  from 
June  until  November.  Some  Pelar- 
goniums, whi«h  were  cut  down  last  sea- 
son and  allowed  to  break  in  the  usual 
way,  were  shaken  out  of  the  pots  and 
placed  in  smaller  ones,  but,  when  they 
should  have  been  shifted,  they  were 
allowed  to  remain  in  the  small  pots, 
which  were  crammed  with  roots.  Gua- 
no water  was  given  at  all  times  when 
they  required  moisture,  and  the  plants 
grew  and  made  fine  foliage,  and  flow- 
ered better  than  the  others  which  were 
favored  with  larger  pots  and  fresh  soil. 
We  could  give  many  other  examples  to 
prove  that  giving  liquid  manure  fre- 
quently, and  not  until  roots  are  in  abun- 
dance to  consume  it,  is  the  proper  way 
to  deal  with  this  important  assistant  to 
cultivation. — Florist. 


Oeigin  of  Plants.  —  Cabbages  grew 
wild  in  Siberia;  Buckwheat  originated 
in  Siberia;  Celery  originated  in  Ger- 
many; the  Potato  is  a  native  of  Peru; 
the  Onion  originated  in  Egypt;  Tobac- 
co is  a  native  of  South  America;  Millet 
was  first  known  in  India;  the  Nettle  is 
a  native  of  Europe;  the  Citron  is  a  na- 
tive of  Asia;  Oats  originated  in  North 
Africa;  Rye  came  originally  from  Sibe- 
ria; Parsley  was  first  known  in  Sardin- 
ia; the  Parsnip  is  a  native  of  Arabia; 


the  Sunflower  was  brought  from  Peru; 
Spinach  was  first  cultivated  in  Arabia; 
the  Pear  and  Apple  are  from  Europe; 
the  Horse-chestnut  is  a  native  of  Thi- 
bet; the  Cucumber  came  from  the  East 
Indies;  the  Quince  came  from  the  Isl- 
and of  Crete;  the  Radish  is  a  native 
of  China  and  Japan;  the  Pear  is  sup- 
posed to  be  of  Egyptian  origin;  the 
Horseradish   came   from   the  south  of 

Europe. 

*  ■  ■»    

SOME    GOOD  KOSES. 


[Continued.] 

There  are  some  other  very  excellent 
Roses,  besides  those  already  mentioned, 
which  are  profuse  and  nearly  constant 
bloomers,  but  they  seem  to  do  much 
better  in  one  locality  than  in  another; 
and  again  there  are  other  and  newer 
sorts,  which  promise  fairly  to  establish 
a  reputation  as  constant  bloomers,  but 
are  not  sufficiently  tested  to  be  placed 
side  by  side  with  those  mentioned. 
These,  together  with  some  older  sorts, 
form  a  most  extensive  group  of  most 
desirable  Roses  of  excellent  blooming 
quality. 

Beauty  of  Waltham,  very  crimson; 
Duchess  of  Norfolk,  bright  crimson; 
Geant  de  Battailles,  purple  scarlet  (an 
old  favorite);  John  Hopper,  rose  and 
crimson  (also  an  old  and  very  popular 
Bose);  Jean  Bare,  velvet  crimson;  Lord 
Baglan,  velvet  crimson;  Louis  Odier, 
bright  rose;  Madame  Laffay,  rosy  crim- 
san;  Marechal  Vaillant,  reddish  pur- 
ple; Peter  Lawson,  deep  scarlet;  are 
some  of  the  Hybrid  Perpetuals  which 
bloom  throughout  the  summer  season, 
and  will  under  favorable  circumstances 
produce  a  few  flowers  during  our  win- 
ter months. 

Auguste  Vacher,  white,  straw  centre; 
Catharine  Mermet,  light  flesh;  Isabella 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


147 


Sprunt,  beautiful  yellow  Rose;  Marie, 
copper;  La  Quintinie,  rose;  Souvenir 
d"  un  Ami,  salmon  and  rose;  Souvenir 
d'  Elise  Varden,  white,  yellow  centre; 
Regulus,  coppery  rose;  all  of  which  are 
free-blooming  Tea  Roses,  and  are  near- 
ly constant  during  a  mild  winter.  To 
this,  however,  I  would  certainly  add  a 
few,  which  are  of  a  more  recent  intro- 
duction and  seem  very  prominent :  Bon 
Silene,  Bougere,  Marie  Sisley,  canary; 
Gloire  de  Dijon  (old  but  scarce),  Com- 
tesse  de  la  Bath,  a  most  exquisite  Rose, 
lately  introduced  here. 

Souvenir  de  Malmaison,  blush;  Doc- 
ter  Berthet,  dark  crimson;  George  Peo- 
body,  purple  crimson;  and  Louise 
Margottin,  light  rose,  are  free  -  bloom- 
ing Bourbon  Roses,  and  continue  in 
bloom  during  the  greatest  part  of  the 
year. 

Of  the  Bengal  (or  Daily)  Roses,  Cito- 
yen  des  Beaux  Mondes,  Hermet,  Mad- 
ame Brean,  Madeline  and  Prince  Charles 
should  be  in  every  collection  of  Roses; 
they  produce  flowers  profusely  and 
nearly  constant. 

To  this  already  rather  extensive  list, 
I  may  safely  add  the  following  Noisettes : 
Amie  Vibert,  pure  white;  Ophir,  buff; 
Fellenberg,  crimson;  and  Jaune  Des- 
prez,  rosy  buff. 

The  yellow  and  white  Banksias  also 
deserve  a  place  in  every  garden;  they 
are  rapid  evergreen  climbers,  and  most 
excellent  winter-flowering  varieties. 

The  next  point  in  the  selection  of 
Roses  should  be  color.  If  only  a  few 
varieties  are  planted,  certainly  the 
colors  should  be  very  distinct  and  de- 
cided. To  select  colors  from  the  de- 
scriptive catalogues  is  not  always  sat- 
isfactory, inasmuch  as  the  terms  used 
in  them  are  much  more  decided  than 
the  colors  are  in  reality. 

Of  the  Hybrid  Perpetuals,  the  fol- 
lowing twelve  are,  in  my  opinion,  the 


most  contrasting,  and  comprise  the 
leading  colors: 

Mad'lle  Bonnaire,  pure  white. 

Madame  Vidot,  satin  blush. 

Madame  Rivers,  pale  flesh. 

Jules  Margottin,  bright  cherry. 

John  Hopper,  rose  and  crimson. 

La  Brilliant,  clear  carmine. 

Lord  Raglan,  violet  crimson. 

Gloire  de  France,  deep  red. 

Geant  de  Battailles,    purple  scarlet. 

Eugene  Appert,  brilliant  crimson. 

Black  Prince,  dark  crimson. 

Emperor  de  Moroc,  very  dark  velvety 
crimson. 

Of  Tea  Roses  I  would  select  the  fol- 
lowing as  the  most  contrasting : 

Devoniensis,  creamy  white. 

Souvenir  d5  Elise  Varden,  white,  yel- 
low centre. 

Isabella  Sprunt,  beautiful  yellow. 

Catharine  Mermet,  light  flesh. 

Due  de  Magenta,  bright  rose. 

Regulus,  coppery  rose. 

Safrano,  apricot  to  buff. 

La  Sylphide,  flesh  to  pink. 

Gerard  Desbois,  bright  red. 

Of  the  Daily  (China)  Roses  I  can  rec- 
ommend the  following  as  the  most  de- 
cided colors: 

Daily  White,  pure  white. 

Mrs.  Bosanquet,  clear  flesh. 

Madam  Brean,  fine  rose. 

Madeline,  bright  cherry. 

Citoyen  des  Beaux  Mondes,  carmine 
to  crimson. 

Hermet,  deep  crimson. 

Agrippina,  brilliant  red. 

To  these  I  would  add  a  few  of  the 
Noisettes  and  miscellaneous  Roses,  such 
as: 

La  Marque,  pure  white. 

Cloth  of  Gold,  sulphur  yellow. 

Marechal  Neil,  deep  yellow. 

Fellenberg,  rosy  crimson. 

Persian  Yellow,  rich  golden  yellow. 

Prairie  Queen,  rosy. 


148 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


HAKDY  CLIMBING  PLANTS. 

There,  are  two  classes  of  climbing 
plants — those  which  are  strong  grow- 
ers with  large  heavy  foliage,  and  those 
of  more  delicate  foliage,  and  of  more 
delicate  growth.  The  first  are  suitable 
for  covering  the  ends  of  buildings,  blank 
walls,  and  arbors;  the  second  are  more 
suitable  for  piazzas,  verandas,  and  sim- 
ilar positions.  For  brick  or  stone  walls, 
unfurnished  with  training-rods  or  lat- 
tice-work, the  best  climbers  are  Ivy, 
Virginian  Creeper,  and  the  Bignonia  or 
Trumpet  Creeper.  These  throw  out 
rootlets  from  their  stems  and  branches, 
and  thus  they  attach  themselves  to  the 
wall  against  which  they  are  planted  or 
trained.  They  are  especially  useful  for 
covering  brick  or  stone  walls,  as  the 
walls  defend  them  from  the  action  of 
the  weather;  but  are  not  so  useful  for 
covering  wooden  walls,  because  they 
must  be  torn  off,  to  their  great  injury, 
when  the  walls  require  painting. 

Of  Ivies,  the  best  for  the  purpose  of 
covering  walls  is  the  Hedera  canariensis 
or  Irish  Ivy,  which  has  large  foliage  and 
is  a  rapid  grower.  H.  Roegneriana  has, 
also,  very  large  foliage;  while  H.  helix, 
the  English  Ivy,  has  small  foliage. 
There  are  many  varieties  of  Ivy  with 
variegated  foliage,  but  mostly  delicate 
growers — except  H.  marmorata  (or  H. 
latlfolia  maculata  of  some  catalogues), 
the  foliage  of  which  is  large  and  beau- 
tifully marbled. 

The  Ampelopsis  (A.  hederafolia)  or 
Virginian  Creeper,  is  well  known.  It 
is  not  evergreen  as  are  the  Ivies,  but 
sheds  its  leaves  in  autumn.  These,  for 
some  time  before  they  fall,  are  of  a 
beautiful  scarlet  or  crimson  color.  Am- 
pelopsis is  not  nearly  so  much  planted 
as  it  should  be. 

The  Bignonia  (Tecoma),  or  Trumpet 
Creeper,  has  lighter  foliage  than  the  Ivy 


or  Ampelopsis,  but  the  flowers  are  very 
beautiful.  The  species  are:  T.  radi- 
cans,  with  reddish-orange  flowers,  and 
T.  grandiflora,  with  orange-yellow  flow- 
ers. 

Aristolochia  sipho,  or  Dutchman's  Pipe 
(so  called  from  the  curious  shape  of  the 
flowers),  although  an  old  inhabitant  of 
our  gardens,  is  seldom  seen.  It  is  a 
free-growing  plant,  with  very  large, 
striking  foliage,  and  is  very  suitable 
for  planting  against  and  training  up  the 
columns  or  open-work  pilasters  of  a  pi- 
azza. There  are  two  other  hardy  climb- 
ing species — A.  lomentosa,  and  A.  fici- 
folia — which  have  smaller  foliage,  and 
are  not  as  strong  growers  as  the  first- 
named.  They  all  require  to  be  trained 
up,  as  they  do  not  themselves  .  take 
hold  of  the  walls  or  other  supports -as 
do  the  Ivies,  the  Ampelopsis  and  the 
Bignonias. 

The  Wistaria  is  a  well-known  climb- 
er, and  is  admirably  adapted  for  train- 
ing up  a  blank  wall  or  along  the  frieze 
of  a  piazza.  There  are  now  several 
species  and  varieties  to  be  found  in  the 
nurseries  besides  the  common  Chinese 
purple.  The  best  of  them  are  the  Chi- 
nese white,  the  long-racemed,  the  dou- 
ble-flowered, the  Japanese  white,  and 
Magnifica.  The  Chinese  white  is  not 
as  strong  a  grower  as  the  purple.  It 
produces  a  beautiful  effect  when  graft- 
ed into  the  purple  variety  or  trained 
with  it.  The  long-racemed  variety  is 
from  Japan.  It  is  a  profuse  bloomer, 
and  produces  racemes  of  flowers  from 
two  to  three  feet  long.  The  double- 
flowered  has  very  double  dark  purple 
flowers,  but  they  are  not  produced  in 
such  numbers  on  the  racemes  as  are 
those  of  the  single-flowered  varieties. 
The  Japanese  white  is  a  profuse  bloom- 
er, producing  large  racemes  of  pure 
white  flowers;  it  is  an  earlier  bloomer 
than  the  Chinese  white.     Magnifica  is  a 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


149 


strong-growing  variety,  with  -large- 
shouldered  racemes ;  the  individual 
flowers  are  very  large,  and  of  a  deep 
purple.  It  is  a  very  beautiful  variety. 
Wistarias  should  be  trained  on  No.  12 
or  14  wire,  well  fastened — the  hold- 
fasts being  set  three  or  four  inches  from 
the  wall — and  stretched  taut  by  such 
means  as  are  used  for  tightening  buck- 
saws. 

For  cottages,  or  small  piazzas,  veran- 
das, and  porches,  the  lighter  and  deli- 
cate-growing vines  are  more  suitable 
and  appropriate.  Honeysuckles,  Ake- 
bia,  and  Clematises  are  best  adapted  to 
this  purpose.  Running  Roses  do  not 
succeed  so  well  in  such  warm  expos- 
ures as  when  planted  in  the  free  air  and 
trained  to  pillars  made  for  the  purpose. 
They  are  also  liable  to  the  attacks  of  in- 
sects which  greatly  disfigure  them,  and 
would  thus  give  a  neglected,  slovenly 
look  to  the  veranda,  were  they  trained 
against  it.  The  climbers  here  recom- 
mended are  nearly,  if  not  entirely,  free 
from  the  attacks  of  insects. 

Of  Honeysuckles,  the  Chinese,  the 
Golden-leaved,  and  Halliana  are  the 
best  adapted  for.  the  purpose  of  which 
we  speak.  The  well-known  Red  and 
the  Yellow  Trumpet  Honeysuckles  are 
also  excellent  in  shady  situations;  but 
the  Belgian,  the  Monthly,  and  most  of 
the  other  sorts  require  cooler  and  more 
moist  situations  than  are  likely  to  be 
found  in  close  proximity  to  a  dwelling. 
Akebia  quinata  has  digitate  leaves,  from 
two  to  three  inches  across,  which  re- 
main on  the  plant  far  into  the  winter. 
It  is  a  rapid  grower  when  established, 
and  produces  a  profusion  of  curiously 
shaped  chocolate -purple  flowers,  of  a 
very  peculiar  but  not  disagreeable  odor. 
It  is  perfectly  hardy,  and  is  to  be  high- 
ly recommended  for  this  purpose. 

The  varieties  of  Clematis  have  been 
so  largely  increased  within  the  past  few 


years,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  say 
which  are  the  best.  But  few  of  them 
have  ligneous  or  truly  woody  stems,  and 
of  these,  the  hardiest  and  best  two  are 
C.  Virginiana,  a  native  species,  and  C. 
apiifolia,  a  Japanese  species.  Both 
have  white  flowers,  produced  in  July 
and  August,  and  are  rapid,  strong 
growers.  The  varieties  of  Clematis 
that  produce  their  flowers  on  shoots  of 
the  same  year's  growth  are  too  many  to 
be  here  enumerated.  Many  of  them 
have  flowers,  five,  six,  and  seven  inches 
in  diameter,  and  of  almost  all  shades  of 
color.  Some  are  pure  white,  some  of 
different  shades  of  blue,  purple,  mauve, 
crimson,  and  violet.  The  following, 
among  the  leading  sorts,  are  easily 
grown  in  any  good  soil;  preferring  a 
rich  loam  and  to  be  well  mulched  with 
manure: 

Jackmanni,  of  free  growth;  flowers 
intense  violet-purple,  abundantly  pro- 
duced from  July  to  October.  Lanugin- 
osa nivea,  similar  in  habit  and  growth 
to  the  preceding;  flowers,  pure  white; 
a  constant  bloomer  from  June  to  Octo- 
ber. Rubella,  similar  in  habit  and 
growth  to  the  first;  flowers  large,  of  a 
deep  claret  color,  freely  produced  from 
July  to  October.  Rubra  violacea,  like 
the  preceding,  but  having  the  flowers 
maroon-purple,  flushed  with  reddish- 
violet. 

Great  attention  has  been  paid  of  late 
years,  in  England,  to  this  family  of 
plants,  and  a  work  especially  published 
about  them.  In  this  country,  Messrs. 
S.  B.  Parsons  &  Sons,  of  Flushing,  N. 
Y.;  T.  C.  Maxwell  &  Brothers,  of  Ge- 
neva, N.  Y.,  and  Mr.  John  Saul,  of 
"Washington,  D.  C,  have  paid  special 
attention  to  them,  and  have  all  the  lead- 
ing varieties.  They  are  a  lovely  class 
of  plants,  and  we  can  not  too  highly  re- 
commend their  cultivation. — American 
Garden. 


150 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


FLOBICULTUKE. 


BY    AN    A3IATEUK. 


Gardening  is  founded  on  natural 
philosophy,  and  the  smallest  economi- 
cal principle  in  its  theoretical  study,  of 
course,  initiates  the  mind  into  the  nat- 
ure and  truth  of  the  practical  culture 
of  flowers,  and  we  can  discover  the  hab- 
its of  those  plants  we  wish  to  cultivate 
with  success.  "Where  nature  has  not 
endowed  the  mind  with  a  taste  for  the 
physiological  principles  of  Floriculture, 
it  is  time  almost  lost  to  endeavor  to  ac- 
quire it. 

"  What  then  is  taste,  but  those  internal  powers, 
Active  and  strong,  and  feelingly  alive 
To  each  fine  impulse?  a  discerning  sense 
Of  decent  and  sublime,  with  quick  disgust 
From  things  deformed,  or  disarranged,  or  gross 
In  species?     This,  nor  gems,  nor  stores  of  gold 
Nor  purple  state,  nor  culture  can  bestow: 
But  God  alone,  when  first  his  active  hand 
Imprints  the  sacred  bias  of  the  soul. ' ' 

Where  taste  really  does  exist,  there 
is  a  pleasure  bestowed  on  the  mind 
which  serves  to  benefit  our  lives  great- 
ly; more  than  is  apparent  to  the  com- 
mon observer.  This  will  not  appear 
strange  when  we  reflect  on  the  solace 
the  mind  undergoes  at  leisure  moments, 
even  to  the  business  man,  or  housewife. 
The  evenness  created  in  the  temper,  the 
pleasurable  change  experienced  after 
the  pursuits  of  business  or  labor,  tend 
to  create  in  the  mind  that  which  it 
stands  in  need  of,  a  blissful  feeling,  an 
incentive  that  keeps  the  body  in  health 
and  vigor.  The  time  in  the  occupation 
of  gardening,  after  the  business  of  the 
day  is  over,  if  not  then  passed,  would 
be  likely  to  be  employed  in  some  per- 
haps injurious  luxuries,  or  some  merely 
temporary  pleasure,  which  would  only 
debilitate  the  mind  and  constitution. 

That  department  of  gardening  which 
relates  to  the  culture  of  plants  is  not  of 
difficult  management,  and  does  not  re- 


quire the  skill  so  generally  supposed 
necessary  to  be  bestowed  on  them. 
Many  plants  are  killed  by  over-kind- 
ness, when  it  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  they,  like  the  human  family,  re- 
quire a  state  of  rest;  therefore  they 
should  not  be  kept  constantly  in  a 
growing  state,  though  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  perfectly  prevent  this  in  our 
stimulating  climate  and  soil. 

For  instance,  a  person  deprived  of 
his  natural  rest  becomes  eventually  un- 
fit for  his  vocation;  not  only  that,  he 
must  live  regularly,  or  he  will  never  be 
vigorous  or  of  a  healthful  habit.  Plants 
are  living  things  in  some  sense.  Nature 
has  not  endowed  them  with  speech,  it 
is  true;  still,  by  watching  them  closely, 
there  are  such  signs  in  their  appearance, 
if  not  treated  correctly  in  their  habits, 
as  will  convince,  the  cultivator  that  a 
different  system  must  be  adopted. 
Therefore  to  come  as  near  nature  as  pos- 
sible, our  understanding  should  teach 
us  that  plants  in  pots  should  be  repot- 
ted into  fresh  soil  in  their  season — that 
is,  when  in  a  state  of  rest — and  be  wa- 
tered only  when  growing,  to  make  them 
healthy,  and  the  soil  should,  as  nearly 
as,  we  can  possibly  find  be  such  as  suits 
their  natural  habits.  By  doing  this  we 
make  them  healthy,  and  in  a  fit  condi- 
tion to  perform  the  functions  so  desira- 
ble in  them  to  flower  at  all.  This  is 
the  business  of  the  amateur  to  see  to, 
and  it  may  be  considered  their  food  and 
rest,  without  which  no  science  in  gar- 
dening can  prosper. 

Oardening,  as  an  amusement,  is  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  most  pleasing  of  recre- 
ations, possessing  much  novelty,  creat- 
ing a  pleasant  enthusiasm,  and  is  such 
food  for  the  mind  as  softens  the  pas- 
sions, improves  the  understanding,  and 
adds  many  moments  of  happiness  to 
that  existence  which  our  Maker  has 
blessed  us   with.     The   mind   is   filled 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


151 


-with  a  pleasing  excitement  in  the  at- 
tainment of  a  new  plant,  thus  giving  to 
science  an  opportunity  of  still  further 
increasing  pleasures  that  are  most  bene- 
ficial and  therefore  desirable.  The  dif- 
fusion of  a  useful  knowledge  in  garden- 
ing is  also  communicative  from  one  per- 
son to  another,  making  our  condition 
as  rational  beings  more  elevated,  and 
developing  our  ideas  as  they  expand, 
and  is  more  influential  in  the  path  of 
life,  even  to  the  most  humble  attain- 
ment in  vegetable  physiology. 

There  has  been,  in  many  works  pub- 
lished, a  mystery  upheld  on  the  subject 
of  gardening  and  the  propagation  of 
plants.  For  what  reason,  may  it  be 
asked,  has  this  dogmatical  system  pre- 
dominated so  long  ?  This  can  not  be 
answered,  unless  it  be  argued  that  the 
whole  system  has  been  confined  too 
much  to  certain  classes  of  men,  who, 
instead  of  endeavoring  to  create  a  taste 
for  flowers,  have  been  studious  to  con- 
ceal their  knowledge,  and  thus  to  check 
Floriculture;  unmindful  at  the  same 
time  that  the  more  converts  gained  to 
the  system  of  gardening  the  more  plants 
would  be  sold  by  them.  I  am  happy 
to  say,  that  now  the  knowledge  of  their 
cultivation  is  becoming  better  diffused; 
indeed,  the  whole  art  is  in  a  state  of 
rapid  revolution.  We  can  not  turn  to 
any  place  but  we  see  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  gems  of  Flora  almost  at  every 
home.  This  is  as  it  should  be.  Ladies 
will  find  a  solace  to  their  minds  in  their 
leisure  hours,  that  could  not  be  better 
employed. 

In  regard  to  gardeners  in  general,  in 
this  country,  most  of  them  are  self- 
taught,  and  this  reflection  on  this  par- 
ticular subject  ought  alone  to  convince 
those  who  have  a  natural  taste  for  the 
science,  that  the  art  is  attainable.  This 
will  better  encourage  all  persons  to  cul- 
tivate flowers. 


The  Scotch  gardeners  are  considered 
the  best  in  Europe.  We  seldom  find 
an  English  gardener  on  his  arrival  in 
this  country,  capable  of  conducting 
greenhouse  as  it  should  be  conducted- 
This  leads  a  person  to  suppose  that 
those  exotics  are  only  employed  in  the 
drudgery  of  weeding  in  their  native 
country,  and  when  here  wish  to  pass 
for  bona  fide  gardeners.  Indeed,  even 
most  of  the  experienced  English  gar- 
deners find  their  knowledge  of  cultiva- 
tion in  this  country  deficient,  as  the 
difference  of  climate  and  soil  varies  ma- 
terially from  what  they  have  been  ac- 
customed to.  But  a  scientific  man  will 
soon  discover  the  difference  and  alter 
his  mode,  if  not  too  old  in  his  fixed 
principles  or  prejudices. 

There  are  other  sciences  attached  to 
gardening  that  help  to  make  the  sys- 
tem more  complete,  which  are  under- 
stood but  partially  in  practice,  and  not 
at  all  in  theory.  I  allude  to  Botany — 
that  fart  that  relates  to  plants;  it  is  a 
branch  that  ought  to  be  studied,  as  it 
leads  the  mind  to  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  distinct  species  of  plants,  their 
properties,  sexes,  order,  and  indeed  tire 
whole  system.  The  ground -work  of 
this  science  leads  the  mind  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  many  important  particulars  in 
relation  to  flowers.  To  know  how  to 
anatomize  flowers  is  particularly  inter- 
esting to  the  cultivator,  though  not  ab- 
solutely necessary.  It  is  obvious  that 
this  study  tends  to  refinement,  and  its 
knowledge  is  essential  to  the  mind;  the 
materials  thus  created  attract  friends, 
.who  seek  for  information.  Thus  we 
find  a  pleasure  in  diffusing  the  useful- 
ness we  may  attain  by  study. 

There  are  but  few  florists  that  are 
botanists.  This  may  appear  strange, 
but  it  is  an  incontrovertible  fact.  Both 
pursuits  may  be  studied  in  leisure  mo- 
ments  without  interfering    with   each 


152 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


other;  and  if  florists  understood  the 
fundamental  principles  of  Botany  many 
errors  could  be  avoided  or  corrected 
that  are  now  existing,  as  the  practical 
botanist  is  sometimes  arbitrary  in  his 
rules,  which  are  out  of  the  power  of  the 
theoretic  florist  to  correct. 

Chemistry  is  another  branch  highly 
essential  to  the  art  of  gardening,  which 
will  be  understood  better  before  many 
years  elapse.  The  farmers  will  find  it 
necessary  to  know  the  quality  of  the  soil 
they  make  use  of,  to  insure  success  in  this 
business,  as  well  as  the  practical  gar- 
dener. 

It  is  not  my  object  to  crowd  the  mind 
of  the  young  amateur  in  the  art  of  gar- 
dening, or  its  requisites;  for  it  is  sim- 
ple, and  can  be  carried  on  without  un- 
derstanding all  the  theories  of  Botany 
or  chemistry.  I  only  wish  to  point  out 
the  great  desideratum  of  a  valuable  ac- 
quisition to  the  mind,  if  these  theories 
could  be  attained.  Educated  to  these 
sciences,  the  mind  would  be  elevated 
above  the  condition  that  falls  to  the  lot 
of  practical  gardeners,  and  the  field  of 
science  would  be  open  to  discover 
things  that  are  not  now  contemplated 
by  them. 


"WOODS."" 

FROM    A  LECTURE   BY  PROFESSOR   BESSEY,  OF 
THE   IOWA   AGRICULTURAL    COLLEGE. 


Few  objects  in  nature  are  of  more  in- 
terest than  trees;  not  only  to  the  nat- 
uralist, who  sees  in  this  masterpiece  of 
nature  a  complicated  machine,  pump- 
ing up  sap  in  great  quantities,  and  evap-. 
orating  it  from  the  myriads  of  breathing 
pores  in  the  leaf,  and  pushing  its  roots 
far  down  into  the  soil,  but  also  to  the 
merchant,  who  sees  in  it  a  material  that 
is  essential  to  the  manufacture  of  many 
indispensable  articles.  Not  only  do 
trees  attain  a  size  far  surpassing  that  of 


any  other  living  thing,  but  the  age  they 
sometimes  reach  is  almost  inconceivable. 
Think  of  the  Big  Trees  of  Calaveras  be- 
ing alive  3,100  years  ago,  when  the 
names  of  Homer's  characters  were  fa- 
miliar sounds.  Or  of  the  Dragon-tree, 
on  the  Island  of  Teneriffe,  which  died 
in  1867,  after  standing  5,000  years. 
When  Moses  was  writing  the  Pentateuch 
this  tree  had  been  alive  for  more  than 
1,000  years;  when  the  Big  Trees  of  Cal- 
ifornia were  seedlings,  it  had  seen  cen- 
turies; when  Rome  was  in  its  glory  this 
Dragon-tree  had  passed  its  prime.  Thus 
it  was  the  only  living  link  connecting 
pre-historic  with  modern  times. 

The  lecture  will  not  consider  this 
branch  of  the  subject,  but  will  refer  to 
trees  having  a  commercial  value. 
Among  the  many  useful  products  of 
trees — fopd,  medicine,  balsam,  gum, 
timber,  etc. — the  latter  is  most  valued 
by  us.  Timber  is  divided  into  two 
kinds — soft  and  hard.  In  the  former 
class  are  the  different  varieties  of  the 
cone-bearing  family,  and  Poplars,  Cot- 
tonwood, Lindens,  etc.  In  the  latter 
are  the  Oaks,  Walnut,  Hickoiy,  Elms, 
Maples,  Laurels,  and  others. 

The  cone-bearing  are  the  most  valua- 
ble for  soft-wood  timber,  and  almost  all 
countries  north  of  the  equator  have 
some  representatives  of  this  important 
family,  while  south  of  it  these  trees  are 
replaced  by  other  families,  such  as  the 
Gum-trees  of  Australia  and  the  Norfolk 
Island  Pine.  Europe  is  furnished  with 
soft  wood  for  many  purposes  by  the 
Scotch  Fir,  which  grows  to  the  height 
of  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred 
feet  in  the  mountainous  parts  of  cen- 
tral Europe.  It  also  occurs  abundant- 
ly in  the  northern  part  of  both  Europe 
and  Asia.  The  White  Pine,  that  for- 
merly covered  immense  tracts  of  the 
northern  United  States,  and  that  still 
forms   large  forests,   is  useful   for  the 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


153 


same  pui'poses  as  the  Scotch  Fir.  It 
grows  much  higher  than  its  Scotch  rel- 
ative, often  reaching  a  height  of  from 
two  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet,  but  it  is  of  small  diameter,  seldom 
more  than  three  and  a  half  to  four  and 
a  half  feet.  The  Yellow  Pine,  a  tree  of 
less  than  a  hundred  feet  in  height,  takes 
the  place  of  the  White  Pine  in  the 
South  Atlantic  States,  growing  there 
extensively,  especially  in  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina.  Its  wood  is  heavy, 
dense,  and  full  of  sap,  and  becomes 
very  hard  when  thoroughly  dry.  This 
makes  it  valuable  for  flooring,  and  for 
this  purpose  large  quantities  are  sent  to 
the  Northern  States,  and  even  to  Cali- 
fornia. Many  thousand  feet  were 
brought  to  San  Francisco  to  be  used  as 
flooring  in  the  Palace  Hotel. 

The  Sugar  Pine  is  a  California  tree 
that  furnishes  to  the  West  what  the 
White  Pine  does  to  the  North,  the  Yel- 
low Pine  to  the  South,  and  the  Scotch 
Fir  to  Europe.  We  thus  see  that  these 
similar  trees  supply  the  same  need  in 
the  different  parts  of  the  northern  hem- 
isphere. The  Sugar  Pine  is  a  very  close 
relative  of  the  White  Pine,  and  differs 
from  it  only  in  size,  being  much  larger. 
On  account  of  the  lightness  and  strength 
of  the  wood,  of  its  having  no  tendency 
to  warp,  and  its  taking  paint  well,  it  is 
used  for  doors  and  window-frames;  and 
but  for  the  fact  that  there  are  other  va- 
rieties of  the  cone-bearers  here,  would 
be  as  universally  used  as  its  relative  in 
the  Eastern  States.  The  Redwood,  a 
species  of  Cypress,  is  the  lumber-tree  of 
California.  It  is  peculiar  to  this  coast, 
and  is  restricted  even  here.  Professor 
Cray,  from  fossils  found  in  the  North- 
ern States,  has  concluded  that  the  Red- 
woods are  the  remnants  of  a  former  gi- 
gantic race  that  covered  a  large  part  of 
the  country.  They  are  a  dying  race, 
that  have   for  some    reasons   survived 

Vol.  V.— 20. 


longer  in  this  State  than  elsewhere. 
The  Douglas  Spruce,  found  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  in  California,  has 
been  found  to  be  more  serviceable  for 
railroad  ties,  sidewalks,  and  for  other 
purposes,  than  other  soft  wood.  The 
Oregon  Pine,  one  of  the  most  valuable 
woods  on  this  coast,  is  firm,  strong,  and 
elastic,  and  has  been  proved  to  be  as 
useful  for  ship-building  as  hard  woods. 
As  the  wood  is  much  lighter  th$n  the 
hard  woods,  the  same  weight  of  cargo 
does  not  sink  these  ships  as  deep  into 
the  water  as  Oak-built  vessels.  And,  as 
the  wood  is  very  elastic,  the  masts  and 
spars,  although  bent  by  a  heavy  press 
of  sail  for  a  long  time,  spring  back  to 
place  when  the  pressure  ceases. 

There  are  other  varieties  of  cone- 
bearing  trees  in  California,  but  as  their 
properties  have  never  been  thoroughly 
investigated,  they  have  no  market  val- 
ue. The  foregoing  are  the  only  soft- 
wood trees  of  value  in  California,  but 
they  replace  all  the  soft  timber  of  the 
Eastern  States,  except  that  of  the  Tu- 
lip-tree or  Yellow  Poplar. 

The  Oaks  are  the  most  important  of 
the  hard  woods,  as  the  Pines  are  of  the 
soft.  The  British  Oak  is  known  in  ev- 
ery part  of  the  world  which  English 
ships  visit,  and  probably  much  of  the 
efficiency  of  the  British  navy  is  owing 
to  the  abundant  supply  of  this  wood. 
Its  value  was  understood  many  years 
ago,  and  plantations  were  set  out,  so 
that  many  ships  now  sailing  are  made 
from  Oak  planted  in  these  places.  The 
only  American  Oak  of  much  value  for 
ship  -  building  is  the  Live-oak  of  the 
Southern  States;  and  as  this  occurs 
south  of  the  places  where  ships  are 
built,  inferior  woods  have  been  substi- 
tuted. 

California  has  no  equal  of  the  British 
Oak.  For  the  common  Evergreen  Oak, 
such  as  occurs  in  Alameda  County,  no 


154 


THE     CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


use  has  as  yet  been  found.  The  Tan- 
bark  Oak,  which  was  long  considered 
useless  as  a  timber -tree,  has  been 
found  to  become,  after  proper  prepara- 
tion, a  hard,  tough  wood,  suitable  for 
making  wagons,  agricultural  imple- 
ments, etc.  The  history  of  this  one 
tree  should  incite  a  study  of  the  prop- 
erties of  the  trees  now  considered  use- 
less. The  Canon  Oak,  found  in  the 
canons  of  the  California  mountains,  is 
useful  for  ship-building,  and  resembles 
the  British  Oak.  We  can  conclude, 
from  a  study  of  the  woods  and  uses  to 
which  they  are  applied  in  one  part  of 
the  world,  what  woods  would  be  used 
in  another  place  for  the  same  purpose. 
Thus  a  study  of  English  woods  and 
their  uses  would  indicate  that  similar 
woods  would  be  used  for  similar  pur- 
poses in  other  parts  of  the  world. 

There  are  many  other  varieties  of 
hard  woods.  The  Walnuts,  of  which 
one  species  is  found  in  California,  fur- 
nish useful  timber;  the  Black  Walnut 
especially.  The  Hickory,  white,  tough , 
and  heavy,  is  used  where  great  strength 
is  required  in  a  small  space,  but,  as  it 
is  subject  to  attacks  from  insects,  it  can 
not  be  used  for  pillars.  The  Elm, 
Ash,  and  Maple  belong  to  the  East- 
ern States;  one  species  of  the  latter, 
however,  being  found  on  this  coast. 
The  Laurel,  which  is  coming  into  ex- 
tensive use  as  an  ornamental  wood,  is  pe- 
culiar to  this  State.  The  Mexican  hard 
woods,  White  Mahogany,  Rosewood, 
Ebony,  etc.,  will  probably  be  largely 
used  before  long. 

These  few  facts  have  been  thrown  to- 
gether to  incite  the  hearers  to  properly 
investigate  and  study  the  wood  of  trees 
now  considered  useless,  with  a  view  to 
their  supplying  the  place  of  timber  yet 
lacking  on  this  coast,  and  enabling 
them  thus  to  contribute  to  the  wealth 
and  prosperity  of  California, 


CHINESE  FRUITS. 

BY  DB.    A.    KELLOGG. 

Long-yen  and  Li-tghi. — Many  Chinese 
fruits  are  well  adapted  to  California, 
especially  the  sheltered  southern  and 
middle  portion  of  the  State. 

Among  these  are  "Long-gan"  or 
"Long-yen"  (Dimocarpus  Longan  and 
D.  Li-tchi).  Both  species  are  trees, 
but  there  are  many  varieties  cultivated 
in  southern  China  and  the  East  Indian 
Islands.  They  differ  in  the  quality  of 
the  flesh  and  time  of  ripening;  also,  in 
the  shape  of  the  fruit,  some  being  glob- 
ular like  the  Li-tchi  so  common  on  the 
Chinese  fruit-stands  of  San  Francisco; 
others  are  heart-shaped,  or  oblong, 
but  nearly  of  the  same  size.  Long-yen 
is  also  medicinal. 

The  twigs  are  thick  and  gross  like 
the  Fig,  leaves  oddly  pinnatifid  like  the 
Walnut.  The  fruit  is  produced  in  long 
loose  racemes  or  clusters,  somewhat 
like  an  open  bunch  of  very  large  Grapes, 
usually  red  when  ripe.  In  one  species 
it  continues  green.  Both  Li-tchi  and 
Long-yen  are  of  a  uniform  light-brown 
color  as  they  appear  sun-dried  or  oven- 
dried  in  our  market.  In  the  recent  or 
fresh  state  it  has  a  leathery  coat,  rather 
thin,  and  inside  is  a  semi-transparent 
substance  with  a  dark-brown  seed  in 
the  centre.  The  flavor  of  the  pulp  is 
slightly  sweet,  subacid,  and  particular- 
ly pleasant  to  the  taste  in  a  warm  cli- 
mate. It  should  be  remarked  that  when 
dried  the  pulp  is  shriveled  and  reduced 
to  half  its  usual  size.  It  is  eaten  with 
tea,  and  has  a  rich  taste  when  well  pre- 
served. By  the  buckle-like  or  truffle 
markings  of  the.  cinnamon -brown  sur<- 
face,  and  thin  brittle  bladder-like  shell, 
anyone  will  easily  recognize  it. 

The  trees  bear  fruit  much  sooner 
when  raised  from  cuttings — if  from 
seed  eight  or  nine  years  are  required, 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


155 


whereas   from   cuttings  only  three   or 
four  years. 

The  best  authorities  now  place  these 
under  the  earlier  Grenus  Nephelium — N. 
cajjpaceam,  one  of  the  most  ornamental 
and  wholesome. 

China  Peaches. — Some  varieties  grow 
to  the  height  of  forty  .to  fifty 'feet,  with 
fruit  of  great  size.  Marco  Polo  saw  a 
Peach  in  the  District  of  Cang-chew 
that  weighed  two  pounds.  In  general 
the  larger  sorts  are  considered  to  be  of 
inferior  flavor,  although  some  Peaches 
in  the  Emperor's  District  are  said  to  be 
as  exquisite  and  meltingly  delicious  as 
the  best  European.  The  gardeners  have 
the  secret  art  of  preserving  the  fruit 
gathered  in  October  until  January,  as 
nice  in  flesh  and  flavor  and  as  smooth 
as  in  the  fresh  state.  It  should  be 
noted  that  in  China  Peaches  are  budded 
upon  stocks  raised  from  seed  or  pits  of 
the  choicest  varieties.  The  flat  variety 
flowers  in  autumn,  ripens  very  early, 
and  with  California  excess  of  winter 
sun  would  do  well. 


Germinating  Seeds  of  Locust-trees. — 
A  correspondent  of  the  Scientific  Amer- 
ican says:  "The  seed  of  the  common 
Locust-tree  will  not  only  stand  the 
temperature  of  boiling  water,  but  will 
always  fail  to  grow  unless  boiled  for 
eight  or  ten  minutes.  My  father  plant- 
ed about  15,000  seeds  of  the  common 
Locust  on  four  acres  of  land,  and  only 
about  fifty  seeds  germinated.  We  now 
boil  them  for  ten  minutes,  or  place 
them  in  cold  water  and  allow  it  to  come 
to  a  boil,  and  remove  them  three  min- 
utes afterward.  These  seeds  will  grow 
finely  after  a  large  brush-pile  has  been 
burned  over  them.  These  are  facts, 
occurring  every  year,  to  my  personal 
knowledge." 


ORANGE  CULTURE  AND  THE  HAWAIIAN 
ISLANDS. 

The  proposition  to  admit  Hawaiian 
fruit  into  the  United  States  free  of  duty 
has  created  considerable  alarm  among 
the  Orange  culturists  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia. The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
Los  Angeles  has  formally  memorialized 
Congress  against  entering  into  a  treaty 
which  may  contemplate  any  such  re- 
sult, alleging  that  it  would  be  a  death- 
blow to  one  of  the  most  important  in- 
dustries in  that  portion  of  the  State — 
Orange  culture.  There  is  really  no 
cause  for  alarm  on  any  such  score.  It 
may  be  interesting  to  the  Orange  cult- 
urists of  California  to  learn  that  the 
Hawaiian  Islands  have  not  been  export- 
ers of  Oranges  for  many  years,  and  they 
have  ceased  to  produce  more  than 
enough  for  their  own  consumption.  If 
we  are  correctly  informed,  the  Orange- 
groves  of  Hawaii  have  long  ago  been  al- 
most annihilated  by  the  very  same  pest 
which  is  now  threatening  the  Orange - 
groves  of  southern  California  with  de- 
struction— the  obnoxious  scale-bug  or 
Orange  coccus.  The  Orange  culturists 
of  southern  California  have  much  more 
cause  for  alarm  in  the  growing  depreda- 
tions of  this  insect  than  they  have  from 
any  probable  competition  with  the  Ha- 
waiian Islands.  The  disagreeable  stain 
with  which  the  rind  of  Los  Angeles  Or- 
anges is  covered  has  been  so  marked, 
during  late  years,  that  a  good  deal  of 
the  fruit  is  no  longer  presentable  in  the 
condition  in  which  it  is  shipped  to  mar- 
ket. If  the  evil  is  one  which  can  not 
be  remedied,  then  it  is  a  misfortune 
much  to  be  deplored;  but  if  it  is  owing 
to  a  want  of  care  and  to  inefficient  cult- 
ure, the  sooner  Orange  culturists  set 
about  correcting  it  the  better.  We 
would  call  attention  to  another  thing  in 
this  connection.     During  the  last  two 


156 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


seasons  the  native  Orange  crops  have 
been  large,  but  there  has  been  a  corre- 
sponding decrease  in  the  size  of  the 
fruit.  Complaints  are  thick  on  this  ac- 
count, especially  from  consumers  in 
the  remote  sections  of  the  interior.  The 
diminutiveness  of  Los  Angeles  Oranges 
this  year  is  such  as  to  materially  injure 
their  market  value,  and,  instead  of  com- 
manding the  top  price  at  which  this  de- 
scription of  semi-tropical  fruit  is  now 
selling  here,  it  is  difficult  to  dispose  of 
it  at  second  or  third  rate  prices.  The 
remedy  is  in  the  hands  of  the  growers 
themselves.  Instead  of  allowing  the 
trees  to  carry  more  fruit  than  they  can 
nourish,  thinning  out  will  have  to  be 
resorted  to,  so  that  what  is  left  on  the 
trees  may  attain  full  growth.  There  is 
perhaps  as  much  danger  to  the  Orange 
culturist's  business  from  this  cause  as 
there  is  from  the  ravages  of  the  scale- 
bug,  and  much  more  than  there  possi- 
bly can  be  from  the  competition  of  a 
country  that  is  now  almost  a  non-pro- 
ducer of  Oranges. — Bulletin. 


DIGGING  AND  MANURING  ABOUT  FRUIT 
TREES. 

Where  I  first  began  my  gardening 
career,  it  so  happened  that  a  change  of 
gardeners  took  place;  the  new-comer 
being  a  very  energetic  man.  Finding 
the  out-door  fruit-trees  in  a  bad  condi- 
tion, he  set  us  at  once  to  work  removing 
all  the  old  soil  out  of  a  Peach  border  to 
the  depth  of  about  two  feet,  the  border 
being  about  150  by  12 — commencing  at 
the  front  and  working  the  soil  out  be- 
hind us  to  be  taken  away,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  about  a  foot  and  a  half  of  the 
surface  soil,  which  was  mixed  with  the 
new,  for  placing  on  the  surface  again. 
The  border  contained  only  poor,  light 
soil,  with  a  yellow,  stiff,  and  also  poor 


rocky  subsoil,  through  which  the  roots 
were  trying  to  penetrate;  hence  the 
starved  condition  of  the  trees.  Pro- 
ceeding with  our  work,  we  carefully 
preserved  all  the  roots,  both  good  and 
bad,  until  we  had  worked  all  the  soil 
out  with  forks,  keeping  the  desired 
depth,  which  allowed  the  soil  to  fall 
from  among  the  roots  with  greater  fa- 
cility. After  the  old  soil  was  removed, 
it  was  replaced  by  turf ,  cut  some  months 
previous  from  a  meadow,  mixed  with  a 
little  dung  (not  leaf-mold)  taken  from  a 
farm-yard.  When  we  came  up  to  the 
level  for  the  roots  to  be  laid  down,  we 
spread  them  openly  and  evenly,  leaving 
only  the  best,  which  were  very  few  for 
such  large  trees.  We  then  put  the 
same  compost  above  the  roots,  treading 
the  whole  firmly,  and  lastly  the  old  fine 
soil  on  the  top,  which  completed  the 
task.  The  following  spring  the  trees 
broke  out  with  renewed  vigor,  looking 
all  that  could  be  desired,  but  I  did  not 
remain  to  see  the  first  year's  crop.  How- 
ever, on  paying  my  late  master  a  visit 
last  year,  he  informed  me  that  they 
were  now  all  he  desired,  producing 
heavy  crops  of  the  finest  and  best-fla- 
vored fruit. — A  Young  Gardener. 


India  -  eubber  -  tree  in  California. — 
J.  P.  Rowe,  writing  to  the  California 
Agriculturist,  gives  the  following  infor- 
mation :  In  answer  to  one  of  your  corre- 
spondents who  inquired  some  time  ago 
about  India -rubber -trees,  I  wish  to  in- 
form him  that  they  grow  as  easily  here 
in  California,  as  the  Blue  Gum  and 
Pepper-trees.  Here  are  the  statistics 
of  one  grown  at  Captain  Wilcox's  town 
residence,  San  Diego:  Age,  two  years; 
height,  seven  feet  eight  inches;  circum- 
ference, five  inches.  It  has  been  in 
the  garden  twenty  months,  and  during 
that  time  it  has  grown  seven  feet. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


157 


(^tutorial  portfolio. 


OUR  FRONTISPIECE. 


Our  number  this  month  is  embellish- 
ed with  cuts  of  three  favorite  garden 
flowers  —  the  Gladiolus,  the  Tuberose, 
and  the  Tritoma  uvaria — for  which  we 
are  again  indebted  to  that  eminent,  in- 
defatigable, and  popular  florist,  James 
Vick,  Esq.,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.  These 
flowers  are  all  pretty  well  known,  and 
therefore  require  no  long  description; 
besides,  we  have  before  written  upon 
their  character  and  cultivation  in  pre- 
vious volumes  of  the  Horticulturist . 

The  Gladiolus  is  the  most  beautiful 
and  showy  of  our  bulbs,  being  of  al- 
most every  desirable  color — brilliant 
scarlet,  crimson,  creamy  white,  striped, 
blotched,  and  spotted  in  the  most  curi- 
ous and  interesting  manner.  There  is 
no  other  country  in  the  world  where 
the  Gladiolus,  and  indeed  nearly  all 
other  flowers,  thrives  so  well  as  in  Cali- 
fornia— at  any  rate  for  such  a  length  of 
time  in  the  year. 

The  Tuberose  is  a  beautiful,  pure 
white,  was- like,  very  sweet-scented 
double  flower,  growing  on  stems  three 
feet  high,  each  stem  bearing  a  dozen  or 
more  flowers.  Our  cut  is  much  redu- 
ced in  size,  but  gives  a  good  idea  of  its 
appearance  when  in  blossom. 

The  Tritoma  uvaria  is  a  stately  vigor- 
ous plant,  sending  up  its  strong  flower- 
stems  five  or  six  feet  in  height,  sur- 
mounted by  a  curious  spike  of  red  and 
orange  pendent  flowers,  a  foot  in 
length.  It  is  very  striking  and  brilliant 
in  color,  and  is  very  conspicuous  and 
gay  in  our  gardens  in  California  in  the 
winter  and  spring,  at  a  time  when  we 
have  the  fewest  plants  in  flower. 


Oak  timbers  with  their  ends  encased 
in  cork  have  lasted  600  years. 


VISIT  TO  F.    LUDEMANN    &  CO.'S   NUR- 
SERY. 

The  grounds  and  plant-houses  at  this 
establishment  are  quite  extensive,  and 
comprise  the  cultivation  of  everything 
in  this  line  that  can  be  required  by  the 
public.  There  are  some  things  that  of 
necessity  must  run  out  some  years,  or 
at  least  nearly  so,  for  there  are  manias 
or  fashions  for  the  demand  of  particu- 
lar plants  and  flowers  at  one  period  or 
season  more  than  another,  just  as  there 
is  for  certain  articles  in  the  fancy  hat, 
ribbon,  artificial  flower,  or  dress  busi- 
ness. 

Most  of  our  best  florists  have  their 
specialties.  F.  Ludeman  &  Co.  have 
just  now  in  this  respect  Pansies  and 
Orchids.  Some  of  the  seedlings  of  the 
first  genus  of  plants  are  very  beautiful, 
distinct,  and  rare.  They  are  of  all  col- 
ors and  marking;  some  of  a  velvety 
black,  dark  purple,  maroon,  etc.,  with 
white  or  yellow  borders  and  brilliant 
golden  eyes,  relieved  above  or  below 
with  white  or  ultra-marine  tints,  show- 
ing splendidly  in  the  sunlight.  Some 
of  them  are  striped  or  mottled  most 
handsomely  or  curiously.  In  fact  there 
is  an  almost  endless  variety  of  them. 
They  are  raised  from  imported  German 
seed. 

This  firm  has  just  received  a  large 
importation  of  new  Orchids  from  Gua- 
temala. They  comprise  forty  varieties, 
and  from  three  to  four  thousand  plants. 
Among  them  are  Casleya  Skinnerii, 
Odontoglosum  grandis,  Lozlia  superba, 
Lcelia  acuminata,  Epidendron  mocorolum, 
Epidendron  Stamfordiana,  Lycosta  Skin- 
erii,  Epidendron  Cnemidophora,  Odonto- 
glosum pulcherrima,  and  Stanhopia  in 
varieties.  The  Orchidacece  is  the  type, 
as  is  well  known,  of  the  most  extraor- 
-  dinary  and  remarkable  order  known  in 
the  whole  range  of  vegetation.. 


158 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


THE   OLIVE. 

There  are  not  many  kinds  of  fruit- 
trees  that  we  can  more  confidently  rec- 
ommend to  our  horticulturists  and  land- 
owners in  California — at  any  rate  in  all 
parts  of  the  State,  except,  perhaps,  the 
extreme  northern  portion  of  it,  and  on 
too  lofty  mountains — than  the  Olive. 
It  is  true,  it  is  a  tree  of  rather  low 
growth,  especially  on  too  elevated  po- 
sitions, and  where  the  soil  is  rather  poor 
and  with  little  depth,  but  on  good  soil 
and  in  the  warm  and  rather  moist  val- 
leys it  has  proved  hardy  and  produc- 
tive, and  its  cultivation  is  not  at  all  an 
untried  experiment,  for  numbers  of 
them  are  doing  well  and  bearing  fully 
in  most  of  the  old  missions  of  the  coun- 
try. It  is  a  tree  that  has  proved  itself 
both  hardy  and  productive,  and  a  great 
quantity  of  oil  has  been  made  from  it, 
with  a  good  profit. 

The  Olive  may  be  advantageously 
grown  on  all  grounds  for  ornament  as 
well  as  use.  Its  continual  verdant  ap- 
pearance and  dark  purple  berries  are 
pleasant  to  the  sight,  and  it  makes  also 
a  good  shade  on  account  of  the  density 
of  its  elegant  foliage.  A  late  practical 
writer,  Dr.  JohnD.  Scott,  says:  "They 
are  easily  and  cheaply  propagated  by 
pieces  of  the  roots,  suckers,  seeds,  or 
cuttings.  The  latter  mode  is  most 
generally  adopted.  A  trench  is  dug 
six  or  eight  inches  deep,  and  the  soil 
thrown  out  on  one  side.  On  this  in- 
clined bank  cuttings  about  a  foot  long 
and  from  one  to  one  and  a  half  inches 
in  diameter,  are  laid  about  a  foot  apart. 
The  ditch  is  now  filled  up  and  the  soil 
drawn  up  to  near  the  top  of  the  cut- 
tings. But  one  stem  is  permitted  to 
grow.  The  soil  is  kept  loose  about  the 
young  trees  and  free  from  weeds.  They 
are  watered  occasionally,  and  at  three ' 
years  old    they  are    feady  for  the  or- 


chard. Their  distance  apart  is  thirty- 
six  feet  in  light,  hilly  soil;  in  rich  soil, 
forty-eight  feet.  Vegetables,  Corn, 
Beans,  and  other  light  crops  may  be 
cultivated  in  the  interspaces  to  help  to 
pay  expenses  until  the  Olives  come  into 
full  bearing.  They  begin  to  bear  here 
in  the  sixth  year,  sometimes  earlier, 
and  the  fruit  may  be  profitably  gather- 
ed and  converted  into  oil  about  the 
tenth  or  twelth  year." 

They  might  be  planted  with  advan- 
tage probably  in  orchards  with  other 
fruit-trees — say  every  fourth  space,  as 
they  would  outlive  the  shorter  -  lived 
trees.  A  full  -  grown  tree  produce 
from  fifty  to  seventy-five  gallons  of  oil 
annually,  which  at  $4.50  per  gallon 
would  far  outstrip  in  value  any  other 
fruit-tree — the  far-famed  Los  Angeles 
Orange  not  excepted.  Some  exception- 
al trees  have  been  known  to  yield  300 
gallons  each  in  a  year,  which  would  be 
worth  more  than  the  whole  annual  pro- 
duct of  some  farms  that  we  are  ac- 
quainted with. 

We  would  recommend  the  planting 
of  Olives,  particularly  in  public  water- 
ing-places, on  account  of  their  not  be- 
ing likely  to  be  injured  or  destroyed 
with  sticks  and  stones  by  visitors  or 
strangers,  as  most  other  fruit-trees  are, 
for  the  sake  of  their  fruit.  Fig-trees 
also  may  be  advised  to  be  planted  in 
the  same  situations  in  preference  to 
other  fruits,  as  their  fruit  is  mostly 
eaten  on  the  spot,  and  from  its  soft- 
ness not  carried  off  in  the  pocket. 

The  writer  above  named  also  says: 
"The  Olive-tree  is  of  extraordinary 
longevity.  Some  are  known  to  be  400, 
others  700  years  old  at  the  present 
time,  and  bid  fair  to  flourish  for  many 
centuries  yet  to  come.  There  are  some 
in  Italy  which  are  supposed  to  have 
been  in  existence  since  the  time  of  Pli- 
ny.   Others  still  linger  about  the  Mount 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


159 


of  Olives,  but  whether  they  ever  extend- 
ed their  sheltering  boughs  over  the 
kneeling  Saviour,  history,  perhaps,  will 
ever  be  silent." 

Its  timber  constitutes  one  of  the 
most  valuable  of  woods.  It  takes  a 
high  polish,  and  is  greatly  prized  by 
cabinet-makers.  It  is  used  extensively 
in  inlaying  with  other  valuable  woods. 
The  wood  of  the  root,  when  polished, 
presents  a  marbled  appearance,  and  is 
used  for  making  snuff-boxes,  dressing- 
cases,  and  other  ornamental  articles." 


CATALOGUES  RECEIVED. 


"Descriptive  Catalogue  of  Evergreen 
and  Deciduous  Trees  and  Shrubs  culti- 
vated and  for  sale  by  F.  Liidemann  & 
Co.,  at  the  Pacific  Nursery,  Baker  St., 
between  Lombard  and  Chestnut,  San 
Francisco,  Cal."     See  notice,  p.  157. 


VICE'S  FLORAL  PREMIUMS. 

For  the  purpose  of  encouraging  the 
culture  and  love  of  flowers,  I  authorize 
the  officers  of  every  State  and  Territo- 
rial Agricultural  Society  in  the  United 
States  (and  when  there  are  two  promi- 
nent societies  in  one  State,  both),  and 
the  Provinces  of  Canada,  to  offer  in  my 
behalf,  the  following  premiums: 

For  the  best  collection  of  Cut-flow- 
ers, 825.00;  second  best,  $10.00;  third 
best,  $5.00;  fourth  best,  Floral  Chro- 
mo. 

The  offer  is  made  to  amateurs  only, 
and  the  flowers  to  be  exhibited  at  the 
regular  annual  fairs.  The  awards  to  be 
made  by  the  regular  judges,  or  by  any 
committee  appointed  for  the  purpose. 
When  only  one  collection  is  exhibited 
the  judges  may  award  the  first,  or  any 
other  premium,  according  to  merit;  but 
the  exhibition  must  be  a  creditable  one, 


and  if  not  so,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
judges,  no  premium  to  be  awarded. 
The  flowers  not  to  be  made  up  in  bou- 
quets but  exhibited  separately,  and 
named.  I  shall  not  consider  this  offer 
accepted  by  any  society,  unless  pub- 
lished in  the  regular  premium  list,  so 
that  all  may  have  an  opportunity  to 
compete.  The  money  will  be  forward- 
ed by  draft  on  the  bank  of  New  Tork 
City,  as  soon  as  the  award  is  made 
known  to  us,  either  to  the  officers  of 
the  society,  or  to  the  persons  obtaining 
the  premium. 

I  also  authorize  the  officers  of  every 
County  Society  in  America  to  offer  one 
of  my  Floral  Chromos  for  the  best  ex- 
hibition of  Cut -flowers.  Now  let  us 
have  some  grand  exhibitions  of  flowers. 
James  Vice. 


MECHANICS'  FAIR. 

The  Tenth  Industrial  Exhibition  of 
the  Mechanics'  Institute  will  be  held  in 
their  Pavilion  on  the  17th  of  August. 
"We  are  happy  to  observe  that  Horticult- 
ure is  to  be  well  cared  for,  and  that 
medals  and  premiums  will  be  granted 
to  meritorious  exhibitors  of  plants  and 
flowers  and  fruits.  A  large  number  of 
plants  and  ornamental  trees  have  been 
placed  in  the  garden,  and  are  growing 

finely. 

—  ■  » 

Overland  Monthly. — By  consent  of 
the  best  judges  the  May  number  of  this 
popular  periodical  is  even  ahead  of  ma- 
ny of  its  predecessors  in  depicting  the 
scenes  and  characters  of  the  Pacific 
slope.  "Big  Jack  Small,"  by  F.  W. 
Gaily,  is  inimitable,  and  most  of  the 
other  articles  are  of  the  highest  order, 
and  calculated  to  enhance  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  magazine.  J.  H.  Carmany 
&  Co.,  publishers,  409  Washington  St. 


160 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOBTICULTURIST. 


CULTIVATION   OP  FEUIT  AND  EEPOET 
ON  THE  FEUIT  AND  VEGETA- 
BLE MAEKET. 

BY   E.    J.    HOOPEB. 

In  the  culture  of  fruit,  as  in  all  other 
undertakings,  we  can  not  impress  the 
orchardist  too  strongly  that  it  should 
be  performed  in  the  most  thorough 
manner  to  insure  complete  success,  es- 
pecially as  regards  young  trees.  He 
should  be  very  careful  not  to  injure  the 
stems  and  the  roots  in  plowing  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  his  land  free  from 
wild  grasses  and  weeds. 

In  practicing  this  necessarily  con- 
stant cultivation  of  the  soil,  it  will  be 
found  too  expensive  to  restrict  it  to 
hand  culture  with  the  spade  and  fork. 
This  may  answer  best  for  all  dwarf- 
fruit-trees,  but  it  will  be  found  too  cost- 
ly for  the  general  orchard.  Shallow 
working  the  ground  with  the  plow  and 
cultivator  will  be  found  the  most  judic- 
ious and  least  hurtful  method,  with 
suitable  applications  of  manure  when 
the  natural  richness  of  the  soil  becomes 
too  much  exhausted.  Upon  this  occur- 
ring (which  in  California  fortunately 
takes  some  time,  so  great  is  the  gener- 
al fertility  of  the  land),  by  giving  a 
dose  of  lime,  horse-manure,  or  of  marl 
or  ashes,  we  shall  infuse  a  new  life  and 
growth  and  productiveness  that  will  as- 
tonish and  delight  us  for  our  outlay 
and  labor. 

It  is  much  better  not  to  allow  an 
orchard  to  become  sodded,  but  to  keep 
it  always  cultivated,  and  the  earth 
loose. 

It  is  an  injurious  practice  to  allow 
the  branches  to  become  too  thick  and 
long,  and  not  cleanse  the  bark  when  it 
becomes  foul  and  mossy.  Some  skill- 
ful annual  pruning  can  not  be  dispensed 
with,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant operations  that  we  can  perform  up- 


on plants  —  especially  woody  plants. 
This  has  to  be  performed  at  several 
periods  of  their  existence  and  growth. 
The  season  for  pruning  has  been  made 
the  subject  of  animated  discussion, 
and  different  periods  have  been  very 
confidently  indorsed  by  different  au- 
thorities, from  which  it  may  safely  be 
inferred  that  all  are  somewhat  right,  or 
may  be  supported  by  good  reasons. 
This  refers  to  pruning  in  its  general 
sense,  and  applies  to  the  removal  of 
limbs  of  greater  or  less  size.  We  al- 
ways desire  to  avoid  the  removal  of 
large  limbs,  and  should  endeavor  to 
provide  against  the  necessity  of  such 
removal  by  trimming  our  orchards  suf- 
ficiently when  they  are  young,  and 
while  the  branches  are  small;  but  when 
such  removal  becomes  absolutely  neces- 
sary, it  should  be  performed  late  in 
the  fall,  when  vegetation  here  is  par- 
tially at  rest.  For  the  removal  of  small 
limbs  from  young  trees,  hardly  any 
time  can  come  amiss.  Better  to  do  it 
out  of  season,  than  to  neglect  it. 

Thinning  fruit  is  not  so  much  prac- 
ticed as  it  should  be,  particularly  on  the 
Apple.  Old  trees  are  often  too  fruit- 
ful; so  much  so  as  not  only  to  deterior- 
ate the  fruit,  but  to  injure  the  tree  it- 
self. This  is  so  much  the  case  with  cer- 
tain varieties,  as  to  constitute  a  serious 
objection  to  planting  them;  other  sorts 
so  exhaust  themselves  by  overproduc- 
tion in  one  season,  as  to  be  barren,  or 
nearly  so,  the  next  year,  during  which 
period  of  rest  they  are  able  to  recuper- 
ate their  energies  and  to  provide  a  new 
set  of  flower-buds.  The  Grape-vine  is 
capable  of  sustaining  a  most  wonderful 
amount  of  fruit  on  this  coast;  but  on 
young  vines  especially  it  is  very  bad 
policy  to  allow  of  this  overproduction. 
Whenever  an  old  Apple  -  orchard  has 
reached  this  condition  of  overfruitful- 
ness    the    best    method  of  thinning  is 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


161 


to  give  a  severe  winter-pruning;  re- 
moving portions  of  the  spray,  and  en- 
couraging the  free  growth  of  young 
wood  in  various  parts  of  the  top,  to  re- 
place the  older  portions  that  were  re- 
moved. 

The  modes  of  keeping  fruits  are  ex- 
ceedingly various,  and  some  of  them 
are  quite  primitive  here,  and  do  not  re- 
quire the  same  care  as  in  the  East. 
The  desiderata  are  coolness  and  dryness, 
and  the  latter  should  not  be  carried  to 
too  much  desiccation.  Fruits  for  mar- 
ket should  be  well  selected,  and  of  a 
like  average  quality  throughout,  and 
not  fixed  up  for  sale  with  the  best  only 
at  the  top  of  the  boxes,  or  ends,  or 
sides,  whichever  are  to  be  first  opened, 
while  the  inferior  fruit  is  concealed 
within,  as  is  too  often  the  case.  Hon- 
esty is  the  best  policy  everywhere,  and 
dealers  soon  learn  to  discriminate  in 
favor  of  the  brands  of  honest  packers. 
It  is  believed  that  any  orchardists  who 
will  take  pains  in  the  selection  of  their 
fruits,  and  in  the  excellence  and  honest 
measure  or  weight  of  their  packages, 
will  soon  establish  a  reputation  that 
will  be  of  great  value  to  them  in  their 
offerings  and  sales. 

As  to  our  markets  —  the  vegetable 
market  about  the  16th  of  last  month 
(April)  was  flooded  with  Asparagus, 
which  had  reached  the  lowest  notch  on 
the  scale  of  prices,  being  then  quoted  at 
only  9c.  to  8c.  New  Potatoes  about 
the  same  time  came  into  market  in 
large  quantities  and  in  improved  condi- 
tion; the  scarcity  of  old  Potatoes  was 
therefore  only  slightly  felt  on  that  ac- 
count. The  former  retailed  at  5c.  to 
6c.  per  lb.  Sugar  Peas  were  abundant 
at  12Jc  per  lb.  Sweet  were  down  to 
lUc,  and  common  Bay  continued  firm 
at  8c.  Cucumbers  were  to  be  had  in 
limited  quantities  at  15c.  to  25c.  each. 
Artichokes  were   unchanged,    retailing 

Vol.  V.— 21. 


at  50c.  per  dozen.  Rhubarb  was  selling 
at  6c.  to  10c.  per  lb.;  Horseradish,  20c. 
to  25c;  Dried  Chili  Peppers,  50c; 
Spinach,  8c;  Field  Lettuce,  15c;  Oys- 
ter plant,  75c  per  dozen  bunches; 
Thyme,  50c;  Kale,  50c 

There  was  not  much  change  to  note 
in  fruit.  Strawberries  were  more  plen- 
tiful, riper  and  cheaper.  The  retail 
prices  were  35c  to  50c  perl-lb.  basket. 
The  supply  of  Oranges  was  undiminish- 
ed, and  prices  were  firm.  Imported 
tropical  fruit  and  California  dried  de- 
scriptions were  steady  at  last  quoted 
prices.  Green  Apples  were  scarce  and 
poor.  Mangoes,  50c  per  dozen;  pre- 
served Bananas,  25c  per  lb. 

California  Oranges  came  forward  very 
freely,  and  met  with  ready  sale.  Dur- 
ing the  middle  of  April,  another  cargo 
of  Oranges  arrived  from  Tahiti.  This 
fruit  was,  however,  quite  sour,  and 
sells  very  slowly.  The  market  was 
plentifully  supplied  with  Bananas,  re- 
ceived by  the  Mikado,  from  Honolulu, 
and  with  Pineapples  and  Limes  by  the 
last  Panama  steamer.  Oregon  Apples 
were  received  in  large  quantities  by 
each  steamer,  and  sold  at  high  prices. 
Oregon  and  California  Apples  retailed 
at  $1.75  to  $3.50  per  box. 

About  the  23d  of  last  month  (April) 
the  list  of  seasonable  vegetables  was 
rapidly  increasing,  the  addition  being 
Summer  Squash  and  String  Beans.  As- 
paragus especially  was  very  plentiful 
and  fine — so  much  so  that  it  was  sold  at 
3c  per  lb.  in  many  instances.  This 
will  prove  a  warning  to  the  cultivators 
of  that  favorite  vegetable,  that  sufficient 
beds  of  it  have  been  made  for  mar- 
ket Use  for  a  year  or  two  to  come. 
!  Green  Peas  and  Rhubarb  also  were  in 
abundance,  and  prices  were  rapidly  de- 
clining. Cucumbers  were  maintained, 
as  the  receipts  were  still  limited  to  small 
lots  raised  under   glass.     Onions  sud- 


162 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


denly  became  very  scarce,  and  prices 
showed  an  important  advance.  The 
market  was  well  supplied  with  Potatoes, 
and  rates  were  easier.  The  supply  of 
String  Beans  was,  of  course,  very  lim- 
ited, and  the  price  ranged  from  40c.  to 
50c.  per  lb. ;  very  little  being  sold  at 
the  latter  figure.  Summer  Squash  was 
also  quoted  at  50c.  per  lb.,  and  Wind- 
sor Beans  at  8c.  New  Potatoes  contin- 
ued unchanged,  the  price  of  old  crop 
being  well  kept  up.  Sugar  Beans  were 
selling  at  10c.  per  lb.;  Sweet  do.  at  8c. 
to  10c;  Common  Bay  at  6c.  Horse- 
radish was  15c.  to  20c.  per  lb. — a  de- 
cline on  former  rates.  Rhubarb  was 
down  to  5c.  to  8c.  Asparagus  could  be 
had  at  almost  any  price  the  purchaser 
chose  to  offer,  although  the  nominal 
prices  asked  by  retailers  ranged  from 
5c.  to  8c.  Kale  was  sold  at  50c.  per 
doz. ;  Herbs  at  50c.  per  dozen  bunches; 
Oyster  plant,  75c;  Spinach,  8c  per  lb. 

Strawberries  were  the  chief  feature  in 
the  fruit  market,  and  notwithstanding 
the  frost  in  many  districts  there  was  a 
threatened  glut  in  the  market  of  this  de- 
licious fruit.  One  pound  baskets  were 
selling  about  the  last  of  April  at  15c 
to  25c.  each. 

Another  cargo  of  Tahiti  Oranges 
found  its  way  into  the  retail  market, 
and  the  supply  of  native  Oranges  was 
still  kept  up.  Pears  were  scarce  and 
poor.  Imported  tropical  fruits  were  in 
good  supply  at  unchanged  prices.  A 
small  lot  of  Cherries  was  received  on 
the  23d  of  April  from  Yacaville,  Solano 
County,  and  for  early  specimens  were 
in  good  condition  and  pretty  rijDe.  They 
sold  at  $1.50  per  lb.  As  the  season  ad- 
vanced, cheap  Oranges  were  disappear- 
ing, and  for  good  to  choice  California 
50c  to  75c  per  dozen  was  asked.  Ta- 
hiti Oranges  were  selling  at  $1.00  per 
dozen  for  the  best,  and  from  that  figure 
down   to   50   cents,    by    market  men, 


though  peddlers  sold  an  inferior  kind 
at  a  lower  price.  Other  kinds  of  sea- 
sonable fruits  were  unchanged  about 
the  last  of  April. 

The  arrival  of  Cherries  is  considera- 
bly earlier  than  usual,  the  first  lot  last 
year  coming  to  hand  on  the  8th  of  May. 
Strawberries  were  coming  forward  free- 
ly, but  prices  were  still  rather  high. 
The  steamer  Reform  brought  250  chests 
of  a  hundred  pounds  each  every  day 
from  Santa  Clara  County,  and  small 
lots  arrived  from  other  points.  The 
fruit,  yet  small  although  of  good  flavor, 
was  disposed  of  at  from  15c  to  20c  per 
lb.;  and  hawkers  with  their  rickety 
wagons  and  lean  horses  yelled,  "  Strah- 
breez!  Two  bits  a  pun!"  through  the 
streets. 

The  market  was  well  supplied  with 
Oranges,  both  foreign  and  domestic, 
and  prices  were  beginning  to  weaken, 
on  account  of  the  increasing  abundance 
of  Strawberries.  Oregon  and  Califor- 
ian  Apples  were  retailing  at  $1.75  to 
$3.50  per  box. 

Last  week  an  inquiry  was  made 
about  Cranberries,  and  it  was  remarked 
that  none  are  growing  wild  in  Califor- 
nia. Perhaps  it  is  only  known  by  a 
very  few  that  they  do  grow  here.  They 
are  to  be  found  along  the  Corte  Madera 
Creek,  a  stream  emptying  into  the  San 
Oregorio,  and  are  like  the  Cranberries 
of  Oregon  for  size  and  flavor.  They 
are  eaten  in  pies,  and  also  from  the 
stem,  and  pronounced  equal  to  the  best. 

A  small  quantity  of  unripe  Cherries 
were  received  about  the  10th  of  April, 
and  sold  at  $1  to  $2  per  pound.  Ta- 
hiti Oranges  were  very  plentiful  at  50c. 
per  dozen;  the  Los  Angeles  crop  gave 
signs  of  exhaustion.  Gooseberries  ap- 
peared during  the  last  week  in  April, 
selling  at  50c  per  pound. 

In  the  first  week  of  May,  Cherries 
were  coming  in  fast  from  the  Pleasant 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


163 


Valley  orchards.  Cucumbers  from  the 
same  source  have  also  been  very  plen- 
tiful this  season,  I.  M.  Bassford  having 
already  received  $1,200  for  them. 

New  Potatoes  were  more  plentiful 
about  May  1st,  but  the  price  remained 
high.  Cauliflower  was  very  abundant, 
and  large  shipments  have  been  made 
to  the  East.  Other  vegetables  were 
in  plentiful  supply,  and  prices  had  de- 
clined. 

On  the  2d  of  May,  Strawberries  sold 
at  12c.  to  15c.  per  lb.  by  the  chest. 
The  reports  are  to  the  effect  that  the 
crop  is  unusually  large  this  season, 
which  will  soon  put  the  prices  down  to 
about  10c.  per  pound  retail.  The  prob- 
abilities are  that  they  will  not  go  very 
much  lower,  because  the  packers  will 
can  the  fruit  when  it  reaches  that  figure. 


The  Botany  of  War. — According  to 
the  Savannah  Republican,  after  General 
Sherman  made  his  march  to  the  sea, 
in  his  track  there  sprung  up  a  new  and 
unknown  grass  from  the  soil,  which  the 
farmers  called  "  Sherman  Clover."  It 
would  grow  up  in  the  most  unexpected 
places,  and  it  is  said  would  root  out 
Bermuda  Grass;  and  as  a  strange  simi- 
larity, it  is  noted  that  after  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war  of  1870-'71,  in  many  dis- 
tricts of  France  a  new  vegetation 
sprung  up,  evidently  the  result  of  the 
invasion.  We  may  add  to  this  account 
that  a  Paris  professor  has  arranged  a 
regular  catalogue  of  plants  discovered 
for  the  first  time  in  France  after  the  in- 
vasions from  abroad.  As  some  of  these 
plants  were  well  known  to  Germany,  it 
was  suggested  that  the  seeds  might 
have  been  brought  along  in  the  forage 
bags,  or  with  the  forage  itself  transport- 
ed from  Germany  and  turned  out  on 
French  soil.  A  new  plant  is  also  said 
to  have  been  introduced  after  the 
march  of  the  allies  to  Paris  in  1815. 


(Sditimal  ©leanings. 


Double  Pyrethrujis. — Within  the  past 
seven  or  eight  years  there  has  sprung 
up  abroad  a  new  set  of  candidates  for 
public  favor,  known  as  "florist's  flow- 
ers." These  are  the  Double  Pyreth- 
rurns,  belonging  to  what  are  known,  in 
English  parlance,  as  Feverfews.  They 
are  derived  from  two  species,  P.  car- 
neum  and  P.  roseum,  both  natives  of 
the  Caucasus.  They  are  hardy  peren- 
nial plants,  producing  large  double 
flowers  resembling  China  Asters  or 
Chiysanthemums,  running  through  va- 
rious shades  of  color — white,  yellow, 
lilac,  and  red ;  from  pale  flesh  color  to 
the  deepest  shades  of  crimson;  some 
varieties  combining  two  shades  of  col- 
or, as  white  and  red,  in  the  same  flow- 
er. The  flowers  of  some  varieties  are 
strap-leaved  or  long,  and  ligulate;  in 
others  they  are  anemone-formed — that 
is,  the  central  florets  are  tubular  and 
the  outer  florets  are  ligulate. 

Unfortunately  in  this  country  florists 
care  little  for  perennial  plants,  and 
have  not  paid  much  attention  to  these. 
Few,  if  any,  have  them  in  their  cata- 
logues. But  as  seeds  of  them  can  be 
obtained  in  our  seed  stores,  those  de- 
sirous of  growing  them  can  obtain  seed 
at  small  cost.  Of  course  when  raised 
from  seed  many  will  revert  back  to  the 
single  form,  and  others  may  not  come 
up  to  the  full  standard  of  perfection  re- 
quired in  a  florist's  flower;  but,  even 
the  single  ones  are  pretty,  so  that  no 
great  disappointment  can  arise.  We 
have  raised,  from  seed,  some  beautiful 
double  varieties,  and  find  them  perfect- 
ly hardy  and  of  easy  cultivation — only 
requiring  good  rich  soil,  a  light  mulch- 
ing of  manure,  and  an  occasional  wa- 
tering during  a  dry  time.  They  flower 
the  second  year  from  the  seed.  We 
can   confidently    recommend    them   to 


164 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


our  readers  as  a  most  desirable  addi- 
tion to  their  list  of  perennials. — Ameri- 
can Garden. 

Maintaining  Fertility  in  Orchards  — 
At  a  rece.nt  meeting  of  the  Western 
New  York  Horticultural  Society,  the 
question,  "How  can  the  fertility  of 
large  orchards  be  most  economically 
maintained?"   was  discussed  at  length. 

President  Barry  remarked  that  large 
orchards  must  have  manure  just  the 
same  as  small  ones.  Green  crops  are 
not  sufficient.  A  farmer  who  plants 
100  acres  in  an  orchard  without  know- 
ing where  to  get  manure  is  as  unwise 
as  one  who  should  buy  1,000  sheep  with 
nothing  to  feed.  Farmers  must  grow 
or  feed  more  stock.  This  is  the  natu- 
ral mode  of  getting  manure,  and  he 
believes  the  best.  He  had  known  nur- 
serymen to  buy  and  feed  sheep  and 
cattle  in  the  winter  solely  for  the  ma- 
nure. Thus  they  received  pay  for  feed 
and  labor,  and  made  the  manuring  ex- 
tra. Farmers  can  do  likewise.  He 
practices  drawing  fresh  stable  manure 
every  third  or  fourth  year,  and  applies  it 
as  top-dressing  in  fall  or  early  winter. 
Using  the  manure  fresh,  it  goes  much 
further,  and  a  very  slight  application  * 
is  sufficient.  Pears.should  be  manured 
with  something  lightly  every  autumn. 
Coal  ashes  are  good  for  a  top-dressing; 
wood  ashes  and  lime  are  excellent.  The 
great  object  is  to  keep  the  surface  light. 
In  applying  stable  manure  to  Pear- 
trees,  always  use  it  sparingly  in  fall  or 
early  winter,  and  never  plow  under. 
In  contact  with  the  roots  stable  manure 
may  cause  blight,  Used  as  a  top-dress- 
ing there  is  no  danger. 


Prize  for  California  Baisin  Grapes. — 
The  Sacramento  Agriculturist  of  the  14th 
of  April  says :  ' '  Last  year,   during  the 


progress  of  our  State  Fair,  James  But- 
ter, of  Florin,  having  some  very  fine 
specimens  of  raisin  Grapes  on  exhibi- 
tion, packed  a  box  of  them  and  sent 
them  by  express  to  the  fall  meeting  of 
the  Nebraska  State  Horticultural  Socie- 
ty. They  were  placed  on  exhibition, 
and  were  the  leading  attraction  in  the 
pavilion,  being  viewed  and  examined  by 
upwards  of  40,000  people.  Yesterday 
Mr.  Butter  received  the  following  let- 
ter from  J.  T.  Allen,  president  of  the 
society : 

"  'Mr.  Butter — Dear  Sir:  I  am  instruct- 
ed by  the  society  to  inform  you  of  a 
resolution  passed  at  their  annual  meet- 
ing, March  1st,  tendering  you  the 
thanks  of  the  society,  and  that  the  so- 
ciety's silver  medal  will  be  sent  to  you 
for  your  splendid  exhibit  of  Grapes 
sent.  The  medal  will  be  sent  as  soon 
as  engraved.  Your  exhibition  of  Grapes 
was  the  prominent  feature  of  our  Fair, 
and  coming  as  it  did  unsolicited,  merits 
the  thanks  of  the  society,  and  I  person- 
ally thank  you.' " 


An  Extensive  Eucalyptus  Plantation. 
— W.  H.  Mathews  has,  on  the  ranch  of 
J.  H.  Byers,  about  ten  miles  south  of 
the  town  of  Colusa,  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  Sacramento  Biver,  about  50,000 
Eucalyptus-trees  of  the  Victoria  angust- 
ifolia,  or  narrow-leaved  iron-barked  va- 
riety, which  he  intends  planting  on  the 
ground  in  orchard  form  about  ten  feet 
apart,  during  the  next  sixty  days.  The 
reason  for  planting  Iron-barks  instead 
of  Blue-gums,  is  that  the  former  resist 
the  severe  frosts  of  the  State  better  than 
the  latter. 

Mr.  Mathews  has  come  down  to  San 
Francisco  to  purchase  50,000  more  trees 
of  the  same  variety,  which  he  also  in- 
tends planting  this  spring.  He  says  he 
will  plant  the  last-named  50,000  trees 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


165 


on  a  piece  of  rich  never-broken  land, 
containing  about  100  acres,  raising  Cot- 
ton the  first  year  between  the  rows  of 
trees,  and  Sugar  Beets  the  second  year, 
as  in  two  years  the  trees  will  probably 
throw  too  much  shade  for  successful 
Cotton  culture. 

He  has  raised  50,000  trees  to  a  height 
of  from  two  to  eight  inches  from  two 
and  a  half  pounds  of  seed,  gathered 
from  trees  grown  in  Oakland.  This 
certainly  proves  that  California  seeds 
will  germinate  as  well  as  imported.  In 
fact  he  used  equal  quantities  of  import- 
ed and  California,  and  found  the  result 
so  much  in  favor  of  that  grown  here 
that  he  used  only  those  trees  grown 
from  California  seed.  Mr.  Mathews 
has  225  acres  of  land  in  places  within 
a  radius  of  six  or  eight  miles,  on  which 
he  intends  planting  Eucalyptus-trees. 
He  is  a  young  man,  and  can  afford  to 
wait  for  his  trees  to  attain  a  very  re- 
spectable size  before  there  will  be  any 
necessity  for  cutting  them  down  for 
sale. 

The  Potato  Disease.  —  The  Royal 
Agricultural  Society  of  London  has, 
along  with  other  investigations,  been 
prosecuting  inquiries  into  the  cause  and 
prevention  of  the  Potato  disease.  Three 
years  ago  Earl  Cathcart  offered  a  prize 
of  £100  for  essays  on  the  prevention  of 
the  disease.  His  offer  resulted  in  eli- 
citing no  fresh  information,  and  failed 
of  direct  benefit.  But  it  stirred  the  so- 
ciety to  active  dealing  with  the  subject, 
and  prizes  were  offered  for  Potatoes  re- 
puted to  be  proof  against  disease.  Two 
prizes  were  promised  at  the  beginning 
of  1874,  for  Potatoes  of  existing  varie- 
ties, and  two  more  are  to  be  awarded 
five  years  hence,  for  varieties  that  may 
be  originated  meantime.  Six  varieties 
competed  for  the  first  prizes.  To  sub- 
ject these  to  a  practical  test,  one  hun- 


dred pounds  of  each  variety  were  sent 
to  twelve  stations  in  England,  four  in 
Scotland,  and  four  in  Ireland.  During 
the  summer  a  botanical  inspector  visit- 
ed each  station,  and  found  disease  af- 
fecting the  Potatoes  in  every  instance. 
Thus  far,  no  progress  has  been  made  in 
the  discovery  of  means  for  preventing 
the  disease;  but  much  valuable  infor- 
mation has  been  acquired  from  the 
statistics  collected  that  will  bear  upon 
the  most  important  point.  Above  all, 
it  has  been  ascertained  what  conditions 
of  soil  and  moisture  confine  the  disease 
to  the  narrowest  limits.  Prof,  de  Bar- 
ry, who  has  been  studying  the  disease 
from  a  scientific  point  of  view,  refers  its 
origin  to  a  fungus  (Peronospora  infest- 
ans)  which  first  attacks  the  leaves,  and 
after  consuming  the  nutriment  afforded 
by  them,  seizes  upon  the  petiole,  and 
so  proceeds  to  the  tubers.  A  further 
report  of  the  Committee  of  Inquiry  will 
be  published  soon. 


Egyptian  Corn.  —  Some  "Egyptian 
Corn,"  lately  imported,  is,  we  pre- 
sume, the  Durra,  a  cereal  akin,  botani- 
cally,  to  Broom  Corn,  but  producing 
more  seed — frequently  125  bushels  to 
the  acre.  It  is  one  of  the  chief  articles 
of  Arab  diet,  and  well  deserves  a  trial 
in  California,  especially  in  sandy  soils 
supplied  with  irrigation,  such  as  they 
have  at  Los  Angeles  and  Anaheim. 
Dates  and  Durra  are  the  two  staves  of 
life  in  the  Levant,  where  the  climate 
and  soil  are  similar  to  those  of  our 
warmer  valleys.  The  Dates  it  is  im- 
possible to  have  here  yet,  on  account 
of  the  newness  of  our  State,  the  high 
rate  of  interest,  and  the  slow  growth  of 
the  tree,  which  bears  fruit  for  the 
grandchildren  of  the  planter;  but  none 
of  these  objections  can  be  made  to  the 
Durra. 


166 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


Two  Marvelous  Flowers. — The  Hor- 
ticulturist gives  an  account  of  two  nov- 
elties among  flowers  which  it  is  almost 
tempted  to  treat  as  fables  until  their 
verity  is  established  by  personal  inspec- 
tion. The  following  is  a  description  of 
them: 

"  One  is  a  black.  Lily  in  Santa  Clara, 
California,  which  has  three  large  blos- 
soms, each  nine  inches  long,  and  per- 
fectly black  outside  of  the  green  petals. 
The  other  is  to  be  seen  at  Constantino- 
ple, and  described  by  an  eye-witness  as 
belonging  to  the  Narcissus  genus  of 
bulbs.  The  flower  represents  a  perfect 
humming-bird.  The  breast,  of  a  bright 
emerald  green,  is  a  complete  copy  of 
this  bird,  and  the  throat,  head,  beak, 
and  eyes  are  perfect  imitations.  The 
hinder  part  of  the  body,  and  two  out- 
stretched wings,  are  of  a  bright  rose 
color,  one  might  almost  say  flesh-col- 
ored. These  wonderful  bulbs  should 
have  been  sent  to  the  Vienna  exhibi- 
tion. They  will  be  in  abundance  by 
the  time  of  our  Centennial  celebration 
in  1876.  And  yet  they  can  hardly  be 
greater  curiosities  than  the  strange  and 
mysterious  '  SanctaSpiritu'  from  South 
America,  with  its  life-like  representa- 
tion of  doves." 


tained  by  mail  from  the  East  for  an  ex- 
periment on  a  small  scale. 


Cranberries  are  not  grown  in  Cali- 
fornia. Most  of  those  sold  in  this  mar- 
ket come  from  Wisconsin,  though  a 
few  of  the  small  variety  are  brought 
from  Oregon  and  Washington  Terri- 
tory. Cranberries  can  not  be  profitably 
raised  except  on  fresh -water  marshes 
especially  prepared  for  the  purpose. 
There  is,  probably,  nothing  in  the  cli- 
mate of  this  State  to  prevent  the  suc- 
cessful cultivation  of  the  fruit  if  a  suit- 
able location  can  be  found .  The  seed 
of  the  berries  sold  in  this  market  would 
doubtless  grow,  or  plants  could  be  ob- 


Calieornia  Roses. — Santa  Barbara 
now  puts  in  a  plea  for  the  largest  Rose. 
Less  than  a  year  ago  Dr.  L.  N.  Dim- 
mick  placed  in  his  grounds  a  Rose  plant, 
the  King  of  Noisettes,  Marechal  Neil. 
This  has  extended  over  a  trellis  arch- 
ing one  of  his  garden  walks.  Within 
the  last  six  days  a  shoot  some  three 
feet  in  length  has  grown  from  the  foot 
of  this  trellis.  On  this  stalk,  surround- 
ed by  half  a  dozen  vigorous  buds, 
hangs  to-day  the  champion  Rose  of  the 
world  in  size  and  perfection.  The 
Marechal  Neil  is  a  cupped  variety  of 
rose,  having  a  lemon  tint  and  with  a 
delicate  «and  delightful  perfume.  This 
Rose  is  16f  inches  in  circumference;  its 
shorter  diameter  five  inches:  the  meas- 
urement in  various  directions  from  tip 
to  top  of  petals  is  over  six  inches!  The 
depth  of  the  Rose  is  fully  three  inches. 
This  we  claim  is  the  largest  Rose  on 
record.  Another  marvelous  thing  we 
noted  before  leaving  the  grounds  of 
Dr.  Dimmick — 113  buds  on  a  Rose 
truss  of  the  La  Marque  variety.  A 
common  felt  hat  covered  the  space  in 
which  were  counted  the  above  number 
of  buds. — Santa  Barbara  P?-ess. 


Plants  for  Greenhouses. — Persons 
in  the  habit  of  buying  plants  at  green- 
houses know  how  fresh  and  delicately 
green  they  look  when  they  are  taken 
out,  and  how  apt  they  are  to  droop 
down  afterward,  from  the  effects  of  the 
change  from  the  warm  moist  air  of  such 
houses  to  the  dry  atmosphere  and 
draughts  of  the  sitting-room.  It  is 
stated  that  if  the  plants  are  enveloped 
for  a  few  days  in  thin  soft  paper,  leav- 
ing an  opening  at  the  top,  they  will 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


167 


become  acclimated  without  feeling  the 
change.  Sprinkle  the  leaves  daily,  on 
both  sides,  with  a  small  wisp -broom, 
with  warm  water. 


American  and  European  Trees.  —  A 
few  years  ago  there  appeared  in  the 
"  Proceedings  of  the  Philadelphia  Acad- 
emy of  Natural  Science"  a  paper  on  the 
identity  of  relative  characters  in  numer- 
ous allied  species  of  American  and  Eu- 
ropean trees,  in  which  it  was  shown 
that  American  trees  are  comparatively 
dwarfed  in  their  habit.  They  have 
smaller  seeds,  smaller  buds,  closer 
nodes,  less  regular  and  less  twiggy 
heads,  thinner  leaves,  deeper  seratures, 
and  higher  autumnal  coloring  than  their 
near  European  allies.  A  European  ob- 
server has  lately  added  to  these  notes 
the  fact  that  American  species  cast  their 
leaves  earlier  in  the  fall  than  their  kin- 
dred species  in  Europe. 


Trees  on  the  Road-side. — Continuous 
rows  of  stately  trees  along  the  road- 
side add  much  to  the  appearance  of  a 
farm  or  country.  But  it  is  urged  that 
shaded  roads  remain  wet  and  muddy 
much  longer  after  heavy  rains  than 
those  fully  exposed  to  the  sun.  This 
is  doubtless  true,  but  as  an  offset  we 
claim  that  they  are  less  liable  to  become 
dusty,  and  between  the  two  evils  there 
is  not  much  choice.  Deciduous  trees 
only  should  be  planted  along  road- 
sides in  cold  climates,  because  they  af- 
ford shade  during  the  season  when 
most  needed  if  at  all.  Roadside  trees 
may  also  interfere  with  the  growth  of 
crops  in  the  fields  adjoining  by  shading 
as  well  as  by  the  absorption  of  moisture 
by  their  roots;  but  as  we  can  scarcely 
secure  anything  of  value  without  some 
loss,  perhaps  the  pleasure  derived  from 


passing  over  a  shady  road  during  the 
hot  weather  in  summer,  as  well  as  the 
beautiful  appearance  of  such  highways, 
more  than  compensate  for  the  slight 
losses  which  they  entail. 


Action  of  Lightning  on  Trees.  —  In 
a  tree  which  has  been  destroyed  by 
lightning,  the  layers  are  not  only  shat- 
tered and  separated  into  strips,  but  the 
wood  also  appears  dry,  hard  and  brit- 
tle, as  though  it  had  been  through  the 
process  of  curing  in  a  kiln.  This  is  at- 
tributed to  the  instantaneous  reduction 
of  the  sap  into  steam.  When  the  sap 
is  abundant,  as  in  May  or  early  in  June, 
the  amount  and  force  of  the  steam  not 
only  bursts  and  separates  the  layers  and 
fibres,  but  rends  the  trunk  in  pieces  or 
throws  off  a  portion  of  it.  When  the 
amount  of  steam  thus  suddenly  gener- 
ated is  small,  owing  to  a  dry  condition 
of  the  stem  from  continual  evaporation 
and  self-exhalation,  there  may  be  no 
external  trace  of  the  lightning-stroke; 
yet  the  leaves  will  wither  in  a  few  days, 
showing  that  the  stem  has  been  ren- 
dered incapable  of  conveying  supplies, 
and  the  tree  will  either  partially  or  en- 
tirely die.  Still  lighter  discharges  may 
be  conducted  down  the  moist  stem  with- 
out any  injury. — Building  News. 


The  Petaluma  Standard  reports  that 
the  Tar-weed  makes  better  hay  for  neat 
cattle  than  Wild  Oats  or  Clover.  Cows 
like  it,  and  give  more  milk  than  when 
fed  on  other  hay.  Half  a  dozen  per- 
sons have  tried  it  and  all  report  favora- 
bly. Heretofore  it  has  been  regarded 
as  a  pernicious  weed,  but  it  deserves  a 
careful  investigation.  It  should  be 
cultivated  and  studied  with  reference  to 
its  value  as  a  regular  crop.  Its  exist- 
ence in  our  streets  and  commons  indi- 


168 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


cates  hardiness  and  adaptation  to  our 
climate;  and  the  thriftiness  of  its  growth 
is  basis  for  a  hope  that  it  will  yield  a 
large  crop.  California  has  yet  to  make 
its  first  valuable  addition  to  the  list  of 
cultivated  forage-jjlants. 


Semi-tropical  Fruit  -  culture  in  Con- 
tra Costa  County. — There  have  been 
a  great  many  objections  raised  of  late 
to  the  Osage  Orange  for  hedging  pur- 
poses. Many  of  those  who  at  one  time 
had  considerable  faith  in  its  adaptabili- 
ty are  now,  for  some  reason  or  other, 
very  strongly  opposed  to  it.  But  Dr. 
J.  Strentzel,  of  Martinez,  who  has  de- 
voted many  years  to  systematic  experi- 
ments in  Horticulture,  is  still  very  pro- 
nounced in  its  favor.  As  evidence  of 
its  adaptability  to  the  soil  of  at  least 
Contra  Costa  County,  the  doctor  sends 
a  huge  specimen  of  the  fruit.  It  is  a 
lemon  shaped  mass,  measuring  six  inch- 
es in  length  and  fourteen  and  a  half 
inches  in  circumference.  He  also  for- 
wards a  magnificent  specimen  of  the 
Mandarin  Orange,  and  another  of  the 
common  fruit,  each  of  which  is  fresh 
plucked  from  the  tree,  "  to  demon- 
strate,'' so  he  writes,  "  that  the  bracing 
cold  mornings  (the  thermometer  once 
only  twenty-nine  degrees  above  zero) 
did  not  freeze  out  the  life  of  anything, 
even  our  semi-tropical  guests."  Dr. 
Strentzel's  indefatigable  zeal  in  the 
prosecution  of  his  favorite  pastime  has 
demonstrated  beyond  question  that  the 
zone  in  which  semi-tropical  fruits  can 
be  successfully  cultivated  in  this  State 
is  much  more  extensive  than  most  peo- 
ple are  willing  to  admit. 


To  Preserve  a  Bouquet. — When  you 
receive  a  bouquet,  sprinkle  it  with  fresh 
water;  then  put  it  into  a  vessel  contain- 


ing some  soap-suds,  which  nourish  the 
roots  and.  keep  the  flowers  as  good  as 
new.  Take  the  bouquet  out  of  the 
suds  every  morning,  and  lay  it  side- 
ways in  fresh  water,  the  stock  entering 
first  into  the  water;  keep  it  there  a 
minute  or  two,  then  take  it  out  and 
sprinkle  the  flowers  lightly  by  the  hand 
with  pure  water.  Replace  the  bouquet 
in  soapsuds,  and  the  flowers  will  bloom 
as  fresh  as  when  gathered.  The  soap- 
suds need  to  be  changed  every  third 
day.  By  observing  these  rules,  a  bou- 
quet may  be  kept  bright  and  beautiful 
for  at  least  one  month,  and  will  last 
longer  in  a  very  passable  state;  but  the 
attention  to  the  fair  but  frail  creatures,, 
as  directed  above,  must  be  strictly  ob- 
served, or  "the  last  Rose  of  summer" 
will  not  be  "  left  blooming  alone,"  but 
will  perish. — American  Artisan. 

METEOROLOGICAL    RECORD, 

Fob  the  Month  ending  Apbel  30,  1875. 

(Prepared  for  The  Horticttltuisist  by  Thos.  Tennent, 

Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No. 

423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office). 

BABOMETEB. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.15  in. 

do  12m 30.14 

do  3p.m 30.13 

do  6p.m 30.12 

Highest  point  on  the  1  st,  at  12  m. 30.44 

Lowest  point  on  the  5th,  at  3  p.  m 29.90 

THEBMOMETEE. 
(  WiOt  north  exposure  and  free  from  reflected  heat.  J 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m. 58° 

do  12  m 63° 

do  3  p.  m 62° 

do  6  p.  m 57° 

Highest  point  on  the  12th,  at  3p.m.,  and  the 24th,  at 

12  m 81c 

Lowest  point  on  the  5th,  at  9  a.  m 44° 

SELF  -  EEGISTEBING     THEBMOMETEE . 

Mean  height  during  the  night 49° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  25th 61° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  5th 36° 

WINDS. 
North  and  north-east  on  5  days  ;  north-west  on  9  days; 
south-west  on  2  days;  west  on  14  days. 
WEATHEB. 

Clear  on  12  days;  cloudy  on  5  days;  variable  on  11  days; 

rain  on  1  day. 

BAIN   GAUGE. 

5th 0.02 

Total  Rain  of  the  season  to  date 17.28 


\\ 


RHODODENDRON     CALIFORNICUM. 


THE 


AND   FLORAL  MAGAZINE. 


Vol.  V. 


SAN   FRANCISCO,  JUNE,    18T5. 


No.  6. 


THE  AMARYLLIS. 


BY   F.    A.    MILLER. 


The  Amaryllis  is  a  very  extensive  ge- 
nus of  flowering  bulbs,  and  has  gained 
great  popularity  of  late  on  the  strength 
of  the  many  beautiful  varieties  which 
have  been  acquired.  They  are  chiefly 
autumn-flowering,  and  as  such  form  a 
most  interesting  and  admirable  class  of 
plants.  The  genus  consists  of  a  large 
number  of  species,  but  I  intend  to  men- 
tion only  a  few  of  them,  which  are  real- 
ly meritorious. 

Amaryllis  Belladonna,  a  native  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  is  one  of  the  old- 
est varieties,  and  enjoys  great  popular- 
ity. Its  showy  funnel-shaped  flowers 
are  of  a  delicate  rose  color,  and  are 
borne  in  clusters  upon  a  thick  stem 
about  eighteen  inches  in  height.  It 
owes  its  name  to  the  color  of  the  flow- 
er, "resembling  the  complexion  of  a 
beautiful  woman. "  The  flowers  are  pro- 
duced before  the  leaves  make  their  ap- 
pearance. The  flowers  are  nearly  as 
large  as  those  of  the  trumpet -shaped 
white  Lily,  are  similar  in  form,  and 
agreeably  fragrant.  As  the  root-stock 
increases,  several  stems  will  be  thrown 
up,  each  of  which  produces  from  six  to 

Vol.  V.— 21. 


ten  flowers,  making  a  gorgeous  appear- 
ance.    Several  varieties  are  known. 

Amaryllis  vittata,  a  native  of  South 
America,  is  another  very  conspicuous 
species,  producing  fragrant  white  flow- 
ers with  red  stripes,  from  four  to  six 
upon  a  single  stalk.  From  this  many 
valuable  varieties  have  been  produced, 
but  very  few  of  which  have  found  their 
way  to  our  shores.  From  the  fact  that 
they  are  all  perfectly  hardy  here  in  the 
open  air,  I  must  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  within  a  few  years  they  will  form  a 
most  important  feature  in  our  gardens. 
Their  culture  in  pots  seems  not  to  be 
thoroughly  understood  here  as  yet,  and 
but  few  flowers  were  produced  by  plants 
brought  here  during  the  past  two  or 
three  years.  This,  however,  is  mostly 
due  to  the  weakness  of  the  bulbs  im- 
ported. Only  strong  bulbs  are  apt  to 
bloom  freely,  and  they  should  not  be 
treated  by  the  "starving-out"  method, 
but  should  receive  a  good  supply  of 
nourishing  soil  and  water  during  their 
growing  season. 

Amaryllis  for mosissima,  tnovf't  popu- 
larly as  "Jacob's  Lily,"  is  a  very  uuv  % 
esting  species.  Its  rich  claret-colored 
flowers  are  produced  singly  upon  a 
stalk.     The  form  of  the  flower  is  some- 


170 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


what  peculiar  and  odd;  the  upper  seg- 
ments being  refiexed  and  the  lower  ones 
sloped  downwards.  Although  this  spe- 
cies is  less  hardy  perhaps  than  any  of 
the  others,  it  has  flowered  well  with  us 
in  the  open  air. 

Amaryllis  atamasko  is  a  small-flower- 
ing species  of  North  America,  and  is 
found  rather  plentifully  in  Virginia. 
Its  pretty  white  flowers  are  abundantly 
produced  singly  upon  a  stalk.  I  would 
recommend  it  strongly  as  a  border 
plant,  for  which  purpose  it  seems  ad- 
mirably adapted,  although  as  a  flow- 
ering plant  it  is  much  inferior  to  the 
varieties  enumerated  before.  I  mention 
it  chiefly  because,  it  appears  in  many  of 
the  American  catalogues. 

Amaryllis  hippeastrum  (a  term  not  al- 
together correct,  perhaps  )  comprises 
the  most  beautiful  of  the  genus  Ama- 
ryllis. But  very  few  of  these  are  as  yet 
offered  for  sale  by  the  nurserymen  of 
this  country;  in  fact,  they  are  too  ex- 
pensive for  the  general  trade.  Some 
two  years  ago  we  imported  about  four- 
teen of  the  best  varieties,  most  of  which 
produced  flowers  last  season,  and  all 
who  have  seen  them  pronounced  the 
blooms  most  gorgeous.  Apparently 
these  Hippeastrums  flower  more  fully 
than  other  species  of  the  Amaryllis.  I 
know  I  have  often  heard  complaints 
that  the  Amaryllis  does  not  produce 
flowers  freely,  and  I  am  fully  aware  of 
the  fact  that  there  are  some  difficulties 
in  their  treatment;  but  I  have  not  found 
such  with  the  Hippeastrums;  they  have 
done  extremely  well  under  a  very  or- 
dinary method  of  cultivation.  All  the 
varieties  are  excellent,  and  I  will  there- 
fore omit  to  name  any  of  them. 

The  cultivation  of  the  Amaryllis  is 
ranch  more  simple  in  this  mild  climate 
tnan  in  very  cold  climates.  Much  more 
attention  is  given  to  their  treatment  in 
Europe  than  is  necessary  here.     They 


are  nearly  all  hardy  here;  but  some  re- 
quire protection  from  our  strong  winds, 
while  others  should  be  screened  from 
bright  hot  sunshine,  at  least  partially. 

A.  atamasko  will  do  well  in  any  local- 
ity out  of  doors,  and  flowers  freely  by 
simply  letting  it  alone. 

Amaryllis  formosissima  will  not  do 
well  if  exposed  to  our  strong  winds, 
and  should  therefore  be  screened;  it 
succeeds  best  under  glass  in  a  cool 
house  or  frame. 

A.  vittata  blooms  out  of  doors,  but 
the  flowers  never  attain  such  beauty  as 
if  grown  in  a  frame  or  house. 

A.  Belladonna  is  the  most  hardy  with 
us,  and  if  screened  from  heavy  winds 
will  flower  to  perfection  in  any  warm 
exposure;  it  will  thrive  well  in. a  sunny 
locality. 

A.  hippeastrum  attains  its  greatest 
beauty  in  a  cold  house  or  frame  par- 
tially screened  from  the  bright  sun. 

If  the  Amaryllis  is  grown  in  jDots,  it 
will  now  be  time  to  house  them;  they 
begin  to  move  with  us  about  the  1st  of 
March.  Give  them  a  good  supply  of  wa- 
ter, rain-water  if  possible,  and  an  occa- 
sional sprinkling  of  the  foliage  will  be 
beneficial.  As  soon  as  they  have  filled 
the  pots  with  roots,  give  them  a  shift 
into  a  larger-sized  pot.  Very  good  soil 
for  them  is  a  compost  made  of  four 
equal  parts  of  leaf-mold,  loam,  old 
decomposed  cow -manure,  and  coarse 
sand.  Good  drainage  must  be  provid- 
ed. Never  allow  the  soil  to  become  dry. 
and  if  convenient  give  them  a  little  ma- 
nure-water once  a  week.  As  the  plant 
develops  itself,  a  partial  sunny  ex- 
posure may  be  given.  They  will  bloom 
in  July  and  August.  "When  their  flow- 
ering season  is  over  they  should  be 
liberally  treated  under  the  same  method 
as  described  before  for  at  least  another 
month,  when  they  may  be  placed  Out  of 
doors,  and  plunged  in  a  cool  and  shady 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HORTICULTUKIST. 


171 


place,  where  they  should  enjoy  rest  un- 
til almost  the  1st  of  March.  During 
their  resting  season  they  should  never 
be  allowed  to  dry  out  entirely,  but  the 
soil  should  be  kept  moderately  moist. 

Before  leaving  this  subject,  I  should 
certainly  make  mention  of  another  splen- 
did species,  the  Amaryllis  purpurea, 
better  known  here  as  Vallota  purpurea, 
a  native  of  the  Cape,  which  has  been 
under  cultivation  here  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  has  become  one  of  our  most 
popular  flowering  bulbs.  Indeed,  its 
brilliant  scarlet  cup  -  shaped  flowers  are 
quite  sufficient  to  make  it  a  great  fa- 
vorite. Strong  bulbs  flower  readily  un- 
der the  already  -  mentioned  treatment. 
This  plant  should  be  in  every  collection, 
and  it  may  now  be  obtained  in  most  of 
our  nurseries  at  a  reasonable  expense. 

All  varieties  of  the  Amaryllis  are  pro- 
pagated from  offsets,  which  are  pro- 
duced abundantly.  The  Hippeastrums, 
however,  do  not  make  offsets  as  freely 
as  other  species,  and  their  propagation 
seems  to  be  a  slow  process.  The  Ama- 
ryllis may  also  be  raised  from  seed,  but 
the  fact  that  it  takes  three  years'  growth 
before  flowers  may  be  expected,  makes 
this  method  rather  tedious. 


THE   CULTURE   OF  SEMI  -  TEOPICAL 
FEUITS. 

With  the  increased  attention  given  to 
this  subject,  and  the  rapid  settlement  of 
Florida  and  the  southern  counties  of 
California,  it  seems  not  improbable 
that  before  many  years  are  past  we  may 
be  drawing  our  supplies  of  fruit  from 
within  the  limits  of  our  own  bounda- 
ries. With  this  in  view  the  ratification 
of  the  proposed  treaty  of  reciprocity 
with  the  Hawaiian  kingdom  threatens 
an  injustice  to  our  fruit-growers.  Al- 
ready the  culturists  of  Los  Angeles 
County  have  petitioned  their  representa- 


tives in  Congress,  protesting  against  the 
admission  of  the  fruits  of  Hawaii  free  • 
of  duty,  and  it  seems  but  reasonable 
that  the  protection  afforded  by  tariff  to 
the  iron-merchant,  the  wool-grower,  and 
ship  -  builder,  should  be  extended  like- 
wise to  the  horticulturist  and  the  farm- 
er. 

Whatever  the  result,  however,  the  oc- 
cupation of  fruit-growing,  particularly 
when  applied  to  the  more  uncommon 
and  semi-tropical  varieties,  is  of  such  a 
fascinating  character,  that  duty  or  no 
duty,  protection  or  free  trade,  will  alike 
be  ineffectual  in  checking  or  preventing 
the  increasing  interest  in  this  pursuit. 

It  is  not  everyone,  however,  who  has 
the  patience  to  wait  for  the  bearing  of 
those  trees  which  require  from  ten  to 
fifteen  years  to  mature;  but  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  assertions  of  those  who 
have  reached  this  happy  period,  the 
truthfulness  of  which  we  have  no  rea- 
son to  doubt,  the  profit  is  far  in  excess 
of  anything  which  can  be  realized  from 
any  similar  occupation.  There  must  be, 
however,  to  this,  as  well  as  every  other 
picture,  two  sides,  and  the  beginner 
can  not  expect  success  without  first 
meeting  discouragement  and  partial 
failure.  In  southern  California  the  cult- 
ure of  Oranges,  Lemons,  Limes,  etc., 
is  carried  on  only  in  certain  localities, 
and  such  as  can  depend  with  certainty 
upon  the  means  of  artificial  irrigation. 
In  fact,  the  whole  mode  of  culture,  the 
country  itself,  and  the  people  who  fol- 
low it,  are  so  different  in  character  as 
to  deserve  if  not  actually  require  a  sep- 
arate description,  and  it  is  possible  that 
the  hints  from  actual  experience  gained 
in  one  locality  may  not  be  without  val- 
ue to  some  of  those  who  are  following 
the  business  in  another. 

In  California,  Los  Angeles  County 
and  its  county  town  of  the  same  name, 
together  with  the  neighboring  valley  of 


172 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOBTICULTUBIST. 


San  Gabriel,  is  the  home  of  the  Orange 
-in  that  State.  The  proprietors  of  or- 
chards, however,  do  not  confine  them- 
selves to  this  fruit  alone,  and  while  in 
Florida  we  hear  also  of  the  Guava,  the 
Pawpaw,  and  the  Banana,  in  Califor- 
nia we  have  the  Lemon,  the  Lime,  the 
Fig,  and  the  English  "Walnut  growing 
side  by  side  with  the  Apricot,  -the  Peach, 
the  Apple,  and  the  Pear. 

The  finest  Oranges  are  grown  at  San 
Gabriel  on  a  soil  of  decomposed  gran- 
ite, where  the  Sierra  Madre  range  gives 
protection  from  the  north  winds.  We 
assert,  and  we  say  it  boldly,  that  they 
are  unsurpassed,  even  if  equaled,  in 
the  world  for  size,  and  when  allowed  to 
remain  sufficiently  long  on  the  tree,  for 
sweetness  and  flavor.  In  the  mission 
garden  at  this  place  there  are  trees 
planted  by  the  padres  from  seed  brought 
from  Mexico,  which  now,  at  seventy 
years  old,  are  in  full  bearing,  and  pro- 
ducing on  an  average  2,000  Oranges 
each  year.  "Whether  it  is  from  a  dif- 
ference in  the  quality  of  seed,  however, 
or  from  the  extra  care  given  to  the  cul- 
tivation, the  fruit  from  the  trees  planted 
at  a  later  period  far  surpasses  them  in 
size  and  quality. 

Most  of  the  Orange-trees  in  Los  An- 
geles County  have  been  grown  from 
seed  procured  from  Tahiti  or  the  Sand- 
wich Islands.  As  a  rule  the  fruit  comes 
true  to  the  seed,  with  such  modifica- 
tions as  may  be  caused  by  locality  and 
care.  It  is  somewhat  common,  how- 
ever, to  bud  the  Orange  into  a  species 
of  almost  worthless  fruit  known  as  the 
"China  Lemon,"  by  which  three  years 
of  growth  are  saved,  but  at  an  expense 
of  longevity  if  not  of  quality.  The  Si- 
cily Lemon,  however,  when  thus  pro- 
pagated, is  much  easier  to  raise,  as  with 
the  Lime  it  is,  when  in  the  earlier  sta- 
ges of  growth,  much  more  susceptible  to 
the  influence  of  frost  than  the  Orange, 


and  less  likely  to  recuperate,  after  being 
cut  down. 

The  Lime,  the  most  difficult  of  all  to 
bring  to  maturity,  is  also  the  most  prof- 
itable. Unlike  the  other  trees,  they 
seem  to  be  continually  bearing,  and  we 
have  heard  of  three  trees  in  one  garden 
producing  each  year  the  enormous  sum 
of  one  hundred  dollars  each. 

There  are  nurseries  in  Los  Angeles, 
where  immense  quantities  of  semi-tropi- 
cal fruit-trees  are  grown,  to  an  extent, 
in  fact,  that  were  it  not  for  the  numbers 
destroyed  after  transplanting  by  care- 
lessness and  inexperience,  the  business 
would  be  overdone.  These  trees  can  be 
bought  of  all  ages,  from  one  to  four- 
years  old,  at  prices  varying  from  ten 
cents  to  two  dollars  and  a  half  each.  The 
greatest  error  and  the  most  common  is 
in  planting  both  seed  and  young  trees 
too  deep;  in  the  first  instance  prevent- 
ing the  young  germ  from  breaking 
through  the  earth,  and  in  the  other  de- 
priving the  roots  of  the  air  which  seems 
necessary  to  their  existence. 

After  the  danger  of  frost,  which  is 
not  past  until  the  trees  have  assumed 
hard  bark,  the  attacks  of  the  gopher  are 
the  most  to  be  dreaded.  This  destruc- 
tive little  pest,  which  is  sometimes  con- 
founded with  the  ground  squirrel,  which 
he  in  no  way  resembles,  is  something 
between  the  mole  and  the  rat,  boring  in 
the  ground  and  gnawing  at  the  roots  of 
the  trees,  sometimes  not  giving  evi- 
dence of  his  presence  until  the  mischief 
is  irreparable.  He  has  been  known  to 
eat  through  a  six-year  old  tree  in  a  sin- 
gle night,  so  that  the  tree  toppled  over 
on  being  touched.  His  habits  ai-e  so 
certain,  however,  that  when  his  hole  is 
found,  by  using  a  trap,  his  capture  is 
almost  sure.  He  is  a  most  pugnacious 
little  fellow,  and  the  Mexican  boys  have 
a  very  ingenious  way  of  catching  him. 
A  noose  is  placed  over  a  hole,  and  when 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICULTUBIST. 


173 


Mr.  Gopher  shows  himself  at  noon,  as 
he  invariably  does,  the  concealed  boy 
pulls  the  string  and  makes  him  prison- 
er. The  string -is  then  fastened  to  his 
tail  and  he  is  lowered  into  another  hole. 
A  fierce  battle  ensues,  and  both  gophers, 
griping  each  other  like  bull -dogs,  are 
brought  to  the  surface. 

For  six  months,  or  more  frequently 
eight,  not  a  drop  of  rainfalls;  the  coun- 
try becomes  parched  and  burnt,  and  the 
trees  can  only  be  kept  alive  by  artificial 
irrigation.  The  scarcity  of  water  will 
keep  the  cultivation  within  certain  lim- 
its, as  in  low  wet  lands  which  would  not ' 
require  irrigation,  the  Orange  will  not 
grow.  At  this  season  the  squirrels,  who 
honeycomb  the  ground  in  every  direc- 
tion, become  almost  desperate  for  food, 
as  also  do  the  rabbits  and  hares.  Young 
vineyards  and  orchards,  if  not  careful- 
ly watched,  are  completely  destroyed. 
Away  from  these  the  excrements  o'f 
horses  or  cattle  are  eagerly  devoured, 
and  we  have  known  them  to  eat  the 
bark  from  a  tree  fifteen  years  old,  as 
high  as  they  could  reach. 

The  vitality  of  the  Orange-tree,  how- 
ever, in  congenial  soil,  is  wonderful;  by 
carefully  covering  the  places  where  the 
bark  has  been  removed,  the  trees  seem 
to  experience  no  harm.  They  can  be 
transplanted  after  coming  into  full  bear- 
ing by  careful  pruning  and  trimming  off 
the  bruised  roots,  and  actually  improve 
their  fruit  by  removal  from  cold  and 
damp  soil  to  a  richer  and  warmer  one. 
Ten  years  is  allowed  a  tree  to  bear  from 
the  seed,  but  from  this  time  both  yield 
and  profit  increase  in  rapid  ratio.  It  is 
the  disinclination  to  wait  which  has  pre- 
vented many  of  the  residents  of  Los 
Angeles  from  reaping  fortunes  similar 
to  those  acquired  by  their  more  far- 
sighted  neighbors;  but  the  introduction 
of  a  different  class,  the  patient,  slow- 
plodding  agriculturists  of  the  East,  is 


awakening  them,  and  the  business  of 
semi-tropical  fruit-growing  promises  to 
assume  an  interest  and  importance  sec- 
ond only  to  the  production  of  Wheat  and 
wine. — Forest  and  Stream. 


A  COMMON  SENSE  VIEW   OF  LAND- 
SCAPE  GARDENING-  AS  AN  ART. 

BY    HORTICULTURIST. 

Ornamental  gardening,  it  is  fair  to 
suppose,  has  its  origin  in  that  desire, 
common  to  all  mankind  above  the  nom- 
adic tribes  of  the  earth,  to  possess  a 
home  which  should  differ  in  some  de- 
gree from  and  be  superior  to  the  com- 
mon waste  or  wild  uncultivated  lands. 
The  useful — -the  field  or  garden -patch 
— is  the  first  step  in  civilization  after  a 
house  for  shelter.  But  no  sooner  are 
the  necessities  provided  for,  than  aesthet- 
ic sentiment,  which  exists,  although  per- 
haps in  a  dormant  state,  in  every  mind 
however  rough  or  savage,  makes  itself 
felt,  and  demands  that  something  shall 
be  done  for  its  gratification. 

Simple  and  uncouth  indeed  we  may 
suppose  the  first  attempt  at  ornamen- 
tation of  grounds  to  have  been.  In  his 
strolls  through  the  surrounding  woods, 
the  improver's  eye  is  struck  with  the 
gay  color  of  some  flower,  or  the  beauti- 
ful foliage  of  some  umbrageous  shrub. 
He  stops  to  admire  it,  and  with  his  ad- 
miration springs  the  desire  to  possess 
the  object..  The  flower  is  transplanted 
to  the  vicinity  of  his  hut,  where  under 
his  careful  tending  it  thrives  and  re- 
pays him  by  its  graceful  bloom  and 
grateful  fragrance.  But  the  very  ef- 
fect of  taking  care  of  his  floral  pet  has 
developed  and  strengthened  the  feeling 
of  admiration  for  some  similar  beautiful 
objects  in  nature,  and  it  is  not  long  ere 
he  is  induced  to  transplant  another 
prize  to  his  own  home.     Soon  he  has  a 


174 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


little  collection  of  such,  not  harmonious- 
ly arranged,  nor  even  judiciously  chosen; 
yet,  rough  though  it  be,  it  is  a  garden', 
and  more,  it  is  a  garden  which,  so  far 
as  it  is  a  plan  or  principle  at  all,  is 
formed  upon  what  will  be  shown,  a  lit- 
tle farther  on,  to  be  the  only  true  and 
correct  principle  in  the  art. 

From  the  time  when  mankind  ar- 
rived at  such  a  forwardness  in  civiliza- 
tion that  Ornamental  gardening  became 
a  necessary  art,  and  was  reduced  to  cer- 
tain rules,  up  to  the  present  time,  two 
great  systems  may  be  said  to  have 
reigned  in  gardening. 

The  first  of  these,  that  which  was 
adopted  when  first  the  nations  emerged 
from  barbarism,  when  the  other  arts  of 
civilization  were  developed,  had  also 
the  longest  dominance,  and  ruled  for 
many  centuries,  to  the  entire  exclusion 
of  the  ideas  which  now  prevail.  The 
chief  idea  in  this  first  system  appears  to 
have  been  to  make  all  gardens  as  dis- 
tinct as  possible  from  similar  pieces  of 
ground  in  a  state  of  nature.  Mankind 
had  but  just  thrown  off  the  shackles  of 
ignorance  and  barbarism — were  not  yet 
in  fact  quite  released  from  their  bonds 
— and  naturally  sought  to  make  as  clear 
a  distinction  as  possible  between  the 
present  and  the  but  too  recent  past. 
They  were  the  admirers  of  the  false  in 
art.  By  art  they  understood  artificial- 
ity— by  artistic,  something  labored,  and 
consequently  unnatural.  Thus  we  read 
of  the  hanging  gardens  of  Semiramis; 
of  the  vast  spaces,  divided  into  squares, 
circles,  and  other  artistical  figures, 
which  formed  the  model  gardens  of 
Rome;  and  we  meet  even  yet  in  Eu- 
rope with  specimens  of  these  primeval 
barbarisms  in  gardening:  trees  trimmed 
to  fanciful  resemblances  to  animals  or 
statues;  flower-beds  sown  in  names; 
sheets  of  water  formed  into  grotesque 
shapes;  and  the  still  ruder  device  of  en- 


deavoring by  means  of  a  painting  at 
some  garden  wall,  to  produce  the  il- 
lusion of  an  indefinite  extension  of  the 
grounds.  In  this  category  must  be  reck- 
oned, too,  the  host  of  sheared  red  Ce- 
dars, Junipers,  and  Arborvitees,  which, 
as  the  forlorn  sentinels  of  the  French 
and  Dutch  styles  of  gardening,  disfigur- 
ed but  too  many  of  our  American  resi- 
dences. 

All  these,  instead  of  producing  the 
impression  intended  by  their  devotees, 
of  a  mature  state  of  civilization  and  a 
refined  taste,  argue  only  a  crude  and 
undiscriminating  mind,  which,  having 
just  emerged  from  the  one  extreme,  the 
state  of  nature,  rushes  at  once  to  the 
other,  and  becomes  of  course  unnatural; 
mistaking  alteration  for  improvement, 
and  hailing  that  as  art  which  is  only 
artifice. 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  other  system — 
that  which,  introduced  by  eminent  men 
in  England,  has  spread  all  over  the 
European  and  American  continents, 
and  is  now  acknowledged  to  be  the  on- 
ly exposition  of  the  true  aesthetic  love 
of  nature  which  prompts  to  the  beauti- 
fying of  grounds. 

The  design  in  this  system  is  not  to 
alter  the  whole  face  of  nature.  Taking 
for  granted  the  fact,  that  in  nature  he 
must  find  all  that  he  can  possibly  want 
of  form  or  arrangement,  and  that  all 
beauty  for  which  he  can  not  there  find 
authority  must  be  considered  defective 
as  being  essentially  false,  the  modern 
landscape  gardener  aims  simply  to  aid 
nature— to  carry  out  to  perfection  her 
most  charming  designs. 

What  the  painter  aims  at  in  trans- 
ferring to  canvas  the  beauteous  concep- 
tions of  his  mind;  what  the  sculptor 
performs  when  he  represents  on  mar- 
ble those  aesthetic  fancies  which  we  call 
the  evidences  of  genius — this  is  also 
the  landscape  gardener's   object.     His 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


175 


aim  is,  or  should  be,  to  be  true  to  nat- 
ure. Who  would  admire  the  most  ar- 
tistically executed  painting,  or  the 
most  finely  finished  sculpture,  if  the 
object  represented  was  deformed?  So 
in  the  creation  of  the  garden,  true 
taste  refuses  to  acknowledge  the  legiti- 
macy of  that  which  has  no  prototype  in 
nature.  It  is  not  expected,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  the  artist  will  be  so 
/  mere  a  copyist  of  nature,  as  not  to  rise 
above  her  faults.  It  is  his,  so  to  ar- 
•ange  the  various  beauties  found  in  dif- 
ferent individuals  of  the  genus  to  be 
represented,  as  to  form  one  beauteous 
and  harmonious  whole. 

With  man  nature  has  fallen  from  her 
original  perfection.  We  meet  nowhere 
with  an  object  beautiful  in  all  its  parts 
and  proportions.  But  neither  is  there 
anything,  however  homely  or  unpre- 
tending, if  it  is  the  product  of  nature, 
which  has  not  about  it  some  feature  of 
beauty.  It  is  the  artist's  mission  to 
study  these  particles  of  perfection,  and 
their  proper  relation  to  each  other,  in 
order  that  his  mind  may  conceive  and 
his  skill  execute  that  which,  though 
viewed  as  a  whole,  may  be  impossible 
to  nature,  yet  in  every  individual  part 
adheres  most  faithfully  to  the  examples 
set  by  her.  And  it  is  the  realization  of 
this  conception  which  produces  that 
agreeable  sensation,  by  which  we  ac- 
knowledge perfection. 


ORANGES  AND  LEMONS. 


BY    DE.    A.    KELLOGG. 

It  has  occurred  to  me  that  to  some  of 
your  patrons  a  brief  note  collated  on 
this  subject  might  be  useful  for  refer- 
ence. (See  Baron  Ferd.  Von  Mueller's 
Paper  before  the  Acclimatization  Society 
of  Victoria). 

Citrus  Aurantium. — The  Orange  (in 


the  widest  sense  of  the  word).  A  na- 
tive of  southern  Asia.  Attains  to  the 
age  of  600  years  or  more.  If  ever  any 
difference  existed  between  this  and  G. 
medica  they  are  now  obliterated,  through 
hybridization,  at  least  in  the  cultivated 
forms. 

The  following  varieties  may  be  dis- 
tinguished : 

1.  Citrus  bigaradea,  Duhamel  (the 
"Bitter  Orange").  This  furnishes  from 
its  flowers  the  Neroli  oil,  so  delicious 
and  costly  an  odor.  It  is  stated  that 
Orange-flowers  to  the  value  of  $250  to 
the  acre  are  obtained  for  a  single  year. 
The  rind  is  used  as  candied  Orange- 
peel.  Hesperidin  in  the  rind — limonin 
in  the  seed,  besides  a  bitter  principle. 

2.  C.  dulcis,  Volkamer  (the  "Sweet 
Orange  ").  Many  kinds  occur.  The  best 
bearer  is  the  St.  Michael  Orange  of  the 
Azores;  as  high  as  20,000  a  year  on  one 
tree.  Neroli  oil  is  obtained  from  the 
flowers  of  this  and  allied  varieties. 

3.  G.  Bergamium,  Risso  (Bergamotte 
Orange").  From  the  fruit-rind  of  this 
variety  bergamot  oil  is  obtained,  and 
also  oil  from  the  flowers.  The  "  Mel- 
larosa"  variety  furnishes  a  superior  oil 
and  exquisite  comfitures. 

4.  G.  decumana,  Linn,  (the  "  Shad- 
dock" or  "  Pompelmos").  The  fruit 
exceptionally  will  weigh  twenty  pounds. 
The  fruit  and  rind  can  both  be  used  for 
preserves. 

5.  G.  nobilis  (the  "Mandarin  Or- 
ange"). The  thin  rind  separates  readily 
from  the  deliciously  -  flavored  sweet 
pulp.  There  are  large  and  small-fruit- 
ed Mandarin  Oranges;  the  Tangerine 
variety  is  one  of  them. 

Citrus  Medica,  Linn,  (the  "Citron" 
in  the  widest  sense  of  the  word).  In- 
digenous to  southern  Asia.  For  con- 
venience sake  it  is  placed  here  as  dis- 
tinct from  G.  aurantium.  Prominent  va- 
rieties of  this  may  be  distinguished : 


176 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOBTICULTUBIST. 


1.  Citrus  Cedra,  G-allesio  (the  real 
"  Citron.")  From  the  tubercular  acid 
fruit  essential  oil  and  citric  acid  can  be 
obtained,  besides  the  ordinary  culinary 
use  of  the  fruit.  A  large  variety  with 
thick  rind  furnishes  the  candied  ' '  cit- 
ronate"  or  "succade."  The  cedra  oil 
conies  from  a  particular  variety. 

2.  C.  Limonium,  Risso  (the  real 
Lemon).  From  this  is  largely  pressed 
the  Lemon  juice,  while  the  thin  smooth 
aromatic  peel  serves  for  the  production 
of  volatile  oil  or  condiments.  The  juice 
of  this  fruit  is  particularly  rich  in  ci- 
tric acid.  A  large  variety  is  the  ' '  Rosa- 
line Lemon." 

3.  C.  Lumia,  Risso  (the  - "  Sweet 
Lemon.")  This  includes  the  "Pear 
Lemon,"  with  large  pear-shaped  fruit. 
Rind  thick  and  pale;  pulp  not  acid. 
This  variety  serves  for  particular  condi- 
ments. 

4.  C.  Limetta,  Risso  (the  real  Lime.) 
The  best  Lime-juice  is  obtained  from 
this  variety,  of  which  the  "Perette" 
constitutes  a  form. 

Citrus  Australasica,  F.  von  Mueller 
(shrub  east  coast  Australia).  Fruit  ob- 
long, subcylindric,  two  to  four  inches; 
tastes  like  a  Lemon.  Culture  might 
improve  it. 

Citrus  Planchoni,  F.  von  Mueller. 
Forests  near  the  southern  coast  of  east- 
ern Australia.  A  noble  tree,  forty  feet. 
Fruit  globular,  size  of  Walnuts;  called 
"  Native  Orange." 

Citrus  Japonica,  Thunberg  ( the 
"Kumquat"  of  Japan).  A  shrubby 
"Citrus,"  with  fruit  of  the  size  of 
Gooseberries.  On  account  of  their 
sweet  peel  and  acid  pulp  they  make  ex- 
cellent preserves. 


Succulents  are  better  adapted  for 
window  -  gardening  than  are  foliaged 
plants  generally.  The  dry  atmosphere 
is  not  so  injurious  to  them. 


GERMINATION  OF  FERNS  FROM  SPORES. 

Professor  Thistleton  Dyer  recently 
gave  a  lecture  on  this  subject,  before 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  in 
which  he  traced  the  growth  of  the  spore 
until  the  young  Ferns  made  their  ap- 
pearance, and  showed  that  after  the 
growth  commences  a  kind  of  fecunda- 
tion or  fertilization  analogous  to  that  of 
flowering  plants  takes  place.  "As  this 
is  singular,  and  doubtless  a  novel  idea 
to  many  horticulturists,  we  will  give," 
said  he,  "the  facts  of  the  case.  A  Fern- 
spore  is  a  minute  round  body,  with  two 
elastic  coats  one  within  the  other,  and 
the  hemispherical  cavity  inside  the  in- 
ner coat  is  filled  with  that  peculiar  liv- 
ing matter  made  familiar  to  us  by  Hux- 
ley and  others  under  the  name  of  pro- 
toplasm. When  the  spore  falls  upon  a 
moist  and  suitable  surface  it  swells  and 
protrudes  two  or  three  tube-like  cells, 
one  of  which  elongates  and  develops 
into  other  cells;  until  a  green,  flat,  liv- 
erwort-like expansion  is  formed  called 
the  prothallus,  and  familiar  to  every 
gardener  who  has  sown  Fern-spores, 
since  the  appearance  indicates  the  growth 
he  expected  to  call  forth. 

"Now  we  come  to  the  interesting  stage 
when  fertilization  takes  place .  If  a  well- 
developed  prothallus  be  examined  un- 
der a  good  lens  a  series  of  small,  white, 
hair-like  rootlets  will  be  found  protrud- 
ing from  its  under  surface,  while  around 
its  margin  will  be  found  one  or  more 
notches  or  indentations.  Among  the 
rootlets,  however,  are  two  series  of  cysts 
or  cells  of  a  more  or  less  hemispheri- 
cal shape,  and  both  containing  organs 
of  a  different  nature.  In  one  series  of 
cysts  or  receptacles  we  find  round  loose 
cells  not  unlike  the  parent  spore  in  gen- 
eral appearance,  but  of  a  more  delicate 
texture.  When  these  are  fully  devel- 
oped, the  cyst  in  which  they  have  been 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


177 


generated  becomes  ruptured,  and  they 
fall  or  are  projected  out  on  the  surface 
of  the  moist  soil  or  prothallus. 

'. '  Now  each  of  the  little  cells  contains 
a  minute  cpiantity  of  fluid  in  which  is 
confined  a  minute  spiral  body  like  a 
vinegar  eel,  but  very  much  smaller,  and 
as  the  cells  soon  burst,  in  water,  these 
little  eel-like  bodies  are  set  free,  and 
possess  the  power  of  moving  with  in- 
credible velocity  in  the  water,  while 
they  are  so  minute  that  the  most  gen- 
tle dew  on  a  leaf  is  sufficient  to  enable 
them  to  traverse  it  in  all  directions. 
These  little  bodies  are  called  anther- 
ozoids,  and  possess  a  power  analogous 
to  that  of  pollen  in  flowering  jflants. 
These  eel-like  bodies  are  common  to 
different  forms  of  cryptogamic  or  flow- 
erless  vegetation,  and  are  the  very 
agents  .  which  enable  the  Potato  dis- 
ease (or  Peronaspora  infestans)  to  in- 
crease so  rapidly  when  once  it  gains  a 
footing.  Careful  examination  of  the 
liverwort  -  like  prothallus  toward  its 
margin,  however,  reveals  another  se- 
ries of  cysts  (archegonia),  and  these  con- 
tain a  proembryoic  cavity  at  then:  base, 
which  may  be  likened  to  the  ovary  in 
flowering  plants.  Now  if  one  or  more 
of  the  male  eel -like  antherozoids  in 
their  movements  come  in  contact  with 
the  cavity  in  the  female  cells,  the  re- 
sult is  a  kind  of  fertilization  similar  to 
that  which  takes  place  when  pollen  is 
wafted  on  to  the  stigma  of  flowering 
plants,  and  as  soon  as  this  takes  place 
the  young  fern  begins  its  growth." 

The  professor  illustrated  the  different 
organs  in  succession  on  a  blackboard, 
and  remarked  that  gardeners  often  look- 
ed on  the  first  growth  or  prothallus  as 
analogous  to  the  seed  -  leaves  in  flower- 
ing plants,  but  that  in  reality  this  was 
not  the  case,  the  prothallus  represent- 
ing in  fact,  an  intermediate  generation 
in  the  life  history  of  many  cryptogams. 


Another  singular  fact  explained  is,  that 
the  male  organs  have  as  yet  been  de- 
tected only  in  Osmunda,  while  other 
Ferns  produce  male  and  female  organs 
at  different  periods,  as  if  to  facilitate 
inter-crossing.  As  a  practical  deduc- 
tion from  the  above  facts  it  was  sug- 
gested by  the  lecturer  that  a  clever  and 
careful  manipulator  might  be  able  to 
produce  hybrid  Ferns  by  removing  the 
antherozoids  by  means  of  a  drop  of  wa- 
ter on  the  hah' -like  point  of  a  sable 
brush,  and  applying  this  to  the  arche- 
gonia or  female  ovary-like  cells  of  an- 
other species.  In  some  cases  this  re- 
sult is  believed  to  have  been  effected  ac- 
cidentally in  nature,  especially  among 
Gymnogrammas.  In  connection  with 
the  lecture  there  were  exhibited  rare 
specimens  of  Pteris  serrulata,  Pteris  tre- 
mula,  and  a  supposed  natural  hybrid 
between  these  species,  which  made  its 
appearance  in  a  batch  of  young  Ferns 
raised  at  Chiswick  a  year  or  two  ago. — 
Tlie  London  Gardener. 


ANGLING— ALLIED  TO  HOETICULTUEE. 


BY  E.    J.    HOOPEB. 


The  pleasures  which  fly-fishing  and 
angling  afford  to  the  horticulturist  and 
admirer  of  nature,  if  he  should  be  fond 
of  the  art,  as  some  of  our  readers  prob- 
ably are,  may  perhaps  serve  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  introducing  the  subject  here. 
There  is  no  other  field-sport  which  af- 
fords more  enjoyment  to  the  lover  of 
beautiful  and  varied  scenery,  for  to  him 
how  many  sources  of  amusement  and 
study  are  opened  out  in  connection  with 
his  pursuit!  If  he  is  fond  of  Botany 
an  ample  field  lies  before  him;  and  his 
Hortus  Siccus  may  be  enriched  by  many 
fine  and  rare  specimens,  gathered  as  he 
wanders  along  the  canyon's  side,  to  or 
from  or  even  during  his  fishing.     Does 


178 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


ichthyology  interest  him?  Yes,  it  is  very 
apt  to;  and  the  prey  he  is  pursuing  af- 
fords him  examples  in  abundance,  and 
food  for  observations,  hereafter  to  be 
practically  applied  to  his  craft.  Is  he 
studying  entomology  (so  closely  allied 
to  the  science  of  Horticulture),  what  a 
field  expands  to  his  view,  among  the 
many  insects  he  has  to  imitate,  in  or- 
der to  lure  the  silvery-speckled  and 
golden-streaked  trout  from  the  streams 
and  pools.  If  the  natural  history  of 
birds,  their  faculties,  architecture,  or 
eggs,  afford  him  pleasure,  here  also  will 
he  have  ample  scope  for  adding  to  the 
treasures  of  his  knowledge.  But  if  he 
be  engaged  in  none  of  these  studies,  yet 
will  his  eye  be  delighted,  and  his  mind 
composed  by  the  varied  objects  he  meets 
with  in  his  healthful  fishing  excursions; 
and  he  may  truly  say,  with  Bryant,  in 
his  delight: 

' '  The  fragrant  Birch  above  him  flung 
Her  tassels  in  the  sky; 
And  many  a  vernal  blossom  sprung 
And  nodded  careless  by." 

Trouting  in  a  mountain  brook  is  an 
experience  of  life  so  distinct  from  every 
other,  that  every  man  should  enjoy  at 
least  one  in  his  day.  The  embowering 
woods  will  enchant  him.  The  songs  of 
countless  birds  above  and  the  intensely 
colored  Californian  wild-flowers  by  his 
path  beneath,  the  mocking-bird's  wel- 
come notes,  the  pensive  cooing  of  the 
dove,  and  even  the  shrill  chattering  of 
the  jay,  all  call  forth  a  joyous  feeling  in 
his  heart.  In  fact,  every  object  he  sees, 
every  occurrence  he  meets  with,  opens 
a  mine  of  information,  and  redoubles 
his  enjoyment.     Bryant  says  again: 

"These  shades  are  still  the  abode 
Of  undissembled  gladness;  the  thick  roof 
Of  green  and  stirring  branches  is  alive 
And  musical  with  birds,  that  sing  and  sport 
In  wantonness  of  spirit;  while  below, 
The  squirrel,  with  raised  paws  and  form  erect, 
Chirps  merrily. 


Throngs  of  insects  in  the  glade 
Try  then  their  wings,  and  dance  in  the  warm 

beam  ~- 

That  waked  them  into  life.    Even  the  green 

trees 
Partake  the  deep  contentment,  as  they  bend 
To  the  soft  winds;  the  sun  from  the  blue  sky 
Looks  in  and  sheds  a  blessing  on  the  scene. 
Scarce  less  the  cleft-born  wild-flower  seems  to 

enjoy 
Existence,  than  the  winged  plunderer    . 
That  sucks  its  sweets.     The  rivulet 
Sends  forth  glad  sounds,  and  tripping  o'er  its 

bed 
Of  pebbly  sands,  or  leaping  down  the  rocks, 
Seems  with  continuous  laughter  to  rejoice 
In  its  own  being." 

Yet,  with  all  these  adjuncts  to  his 
store  of  amusement,  he  will  of  course 
return  home  better  satisfied  if  his  creel 
be  well  stored  with  trout  or  salmon;  to 
which  result  it  is  hoped  the  few  follow- 
ing remarks  on  fly-fishing,  bait-fishing, 
and  spinning  with  a  spoon-bait,  may 
possibly  contribute. 

Of  all  fresh-water  fish  the  trout  is  the 
most  beautiful,  and  for  the  diversion  it 
affords  the  angler,  as  well  as  for  its  su- 
perior qualities,  is  only  next  to  the  no- 
ble salmon.  Its  very  uncertain  dispo- 
sition and  wariness  make  its  capture 
very  interesting;  one  day  taking  well 
the  fly,  and  another  some  particular 
bait,  as  the  worm,  shrimp,  or  grasshop- 
per, and  the  next  some  other  variety  of 
food.  But  fortunately  for  California, 
there  are  yet  plenty  of  these  speckled 
beauties  to  be  found,  and  the  present 
effective  artificial  breeding  of  both  them 
and  salmon,  with  the  judicious  game 
laws,  will  preserve  them  in  continued 
plenty,  as  witnessed  lately  in  the  suc- 
cessful capture  of  many  salmon-trout*  in 

*  So  called;  but  in  reality  there  are  no  salm- 
on-trout in  California — only  the  trout  (Salmo 
irida)  native  to  the  State.  The  eastern  brook- 
trout  have  been  introduced  into  some  of  the 
private  but  not  yet  into  the  public  waters  of 
the  country.    There  are  also  in  Lake  Merced 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICULTUBIST. 


179 


lakes  San  Andreas  and  Merced,  the  first 
belonging  to  the  Spring  Valley  "Water 
Company,  and  the  fish  in  the  last  to  the 
Acclimatizing  Society.  The  chief,  and 
this  season  the  best  method  of  catching 
them  in  these  lakes,  is  by  trolling  or 
spinning  from  a  boat  a  small  spoon,  to 
be  allowed  to  float  out  some  one  or  two 
hundred  feet  or  more,  the  boat  being 
rowed  at  a  moderate  rate. 

Next  in  rank  to  fly-fishing  as  a  lively 
and  scientific  mode  of  angling,  in  our 
estimation  unquestionably  stand  min- 
now and  spoon  spinning,  whether  we 
regard  them  as  an  elegant  pastime  or  a 
difficult  or  at  least  delicate  art.  And 
although  our  captures  with  them  may 
by  no  means  equal  in  number  those  tak- 
en with  the  fly  or  real  bait  in  some  wa- 
ters, they  will  in  general  surpass  them 
in  size  and  quality. 

To  show  how  different  are  the  dispo- 
sitions of  European  and  the  Pacific 
slo£>e  or  western  American  trout,  or  the 
"salmon-trout,"  the  idea  in  Europe  of 
these  fish  taking  the  spoon-bait  in  clear 
waters,  of  limited  size,  is  ridiculed,  and 
sportsmen  say  there  that  these  fish  must 
certainly  be  famishing  of  hunger,  or 
seize  it  merely  from  motives  of  curiosi- 
ty, before  they  would  bite  at  anything 
so  unnatural.  "VVe  have  often  thought 
that  a  good  imitation  of  the  "Abbey," 
green  or  gray  drake-flies,  or  the  brown 
salmon-fly  so  successful  here  north, 
combined  of  any  material  which  would 
keep  them  floating  high  and  dry  on  the 
surface,  like  the  natural  insect,  might 
be  a  valuable  invention  even  on  this 
coast. 

The  best  sort  of  rods  that  we  know  of, 
adapted  to  all  kinds  of  fishing,  whether 
for  fly-fishing  for  salmon  or  trout,  boat- 
trolling,  or  bait-fishing  from  the  bank, 

many  salmon  (Salmo  salar),  and  all, the  fish 
there  are  now  successfully  taken  by  bait- fishing 
as  well  as  the  spoon. 


is  either  the  §25  rod,  all  made  of  Lance- 
wood,  with  four  or  five  spare  joints  or 
tops;  or  the  $12  rod,  all  the  joints  of 
Ash  or  Hickory,  except  the  tops,  which 
are  formed  of  Lance-wood.  These  and 
all  other  sporting  apparatus  can  be  ob- 
tained of  Liddle  &  Kaeding,  Washing- 
ton Street,  San  Francisco.  For  trolling;- 
in  lake  San  Andreas  or  Merced  a  small 
spinning  sj)oon-bait  is  necessary,  to  be 
fastened  to  a  gut  leader  six  or  seven 
feet  long,  with  a  very  small  and  light, 
lead  or  sinker  to  cause  the  bait  to  sink 
about  from  four  to  six  feet. 

The  trout  in  lakes  San  Andreas  and 
Merced  are  either  what  are  called  "black 
trout"  or  "silvery  trout. "  Lake  Merced 
contains  the  larger  fish  of  the  two;  they 
chiefly  running  from  two  to  six  pounds, 
while  the  San  Andreas  trout  average 
about  three-quarters  of  a  pound.  Lake 
Pilarcitos,  about  twenty -three  miles 
from  the  city,  contains  plenty  of  brook- 
trout,  and  is  a  free  water. 


Impoetations  from  Austbalia.  —  For 
several  years,  or  ever  since  the  estab- 
lishment of  steam  communication  be- 
tween this  city  and  the  Australian  colo- 
nies, this  market  has  been  supplied 
with  a  Lemon  of  superior  quality  from 
Sydney.  It  is  known  in  the  colonies  as 
the  Lisbon  Lemon,  and  has  proved  it- 
self well  adapted  for  transportation  long 
distances  by  always  arriving  in  good  or- 
der. For  the  first  time  the  trees  are 
now  obtainable  here,  a  shipment  by 
steamer  "  Mikado"  having  just  been  re- 
ceived by  O'Connor  &  Co.,  426  Sansome 
Street.  The  same  firm  have  also  re- 
ceived several  hundred  plants  of  the 
Norfolk  Island  Pine. 


Foe  a  general  mulch  there  is  nothing 
equal  to  the  soil  itself.  A  thorough 
pulverization  of  the  surface  is  the  same 
as  a  coat  of  saw-dust,  cut  straw,  etc. 


180 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


SOME  GOOD   ROSES. 

BX   P.   A.    MH/LEB. 
[Concluded.] 

A  most  important  point  in  the  quali- 
ty of  a  Eose  is  its  form.  We  find  that 
in  all  popular  classes  of  flowering  plants 
certain  standards  or  rules  have  been 
established  which  make  a  variety  wor- 
thy of  cultivation.  So  it  is  with  the 
Eose.  A  good  flower  should  have  a 
perfect  outline,  must  be  double  to  the 
centre,  the  petals  should  be  substantial, 
and  their  position  regular,  independent 
of  the  general  form  of  the  flowers.  Out- 
side of  these  general  qualities,  certain 
terms  are  applied  as  to  their  form,  viz: 
"globular,"  "cup-shaped,"  "shell-shap- 
ed," "compact,"  and  "flat."  Of  these, 
the  cup-shaped  Eoses  are  generally  con- 
sidered the  most  beautiful,  and  next  to 
these  may  be  considered  the  shell-shap- 
ed, although  some  very  excellent  Eo- 
ses are  neither  cup -shaped  nor  shell- 
shaped. 

While  these  forms  apply  more  partic- 
ularly to  the  flower  when  at  its  height 
of  perfection,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of 
the  fact  that  the  bud  of  a  Eose  deserves 
our  admiration  equally  as  well.  In  fact 
the  bud  is  the  most  desirable  for  a  bou- 
quet. Very  few  varieties,  if  any,  com- 
bine excellence  in  bud  with  perfection 
in  flower,  and,  generally  speaking,  the 
varieties  which  produce  very  fine  buds, 
do  not  furnish  very  elegant  flowers 
when  in  full  bloom.  I  would  favor  there- 
fore, as  far  as  the  general  form  of  a 
Eose  is  concerned,  the  making  up  of 
two  classes,  of  which  the  one  produces 
the  finest  buds  and  the  other  the  finest 
flowers. 

All  the  Noisettes  and  all  the  Moss 
Eoses  are  very  handsome  in  bud,  and 
particularly  the  latter  are  desirable  on- 
ly when  in  bud. 

Of  the  Hybrid  Perpetuals,  compara- 


tively few  produce  very  fine  buds :  Gen- 
eral Jacqueminot  (popularly  known  as 
Pauline)  is  far  ahead  of  any  other  in  its 
class. 

Of  Tea  Eoses,  we  have  quite  a  good 
number  which  furnish  most  exquisite 
buds.  The  well  -  known  Safrano,  Cath- 
erine Mermet,  Isabella  Sprunt,  La  Syl- 
phide,  Madame  Blachet,  Eeine  du  Port- 
ugal, and  Souvenir  d'Elise  Varden  are 
all  very  beautiful. 

Of  the  China  (Bengal)  Eoses,  Mrs. 
Bosanquet  forms  a  most  charming  Eose 
when  about  half  open;  Madeline  and 
Marjolin  de  Luxembourg  are  also  very 
good  in  bud. 

Of  Bourbon  Eoses,  the  most  exquis- 
ite bud  is  furnished  by  the  old  and  well- 
known  variety  "  Gloire  de  Bosamene." 

Of  beautiful  Eoses  when  in  full  bloom, 
we  have  many  excellent  varieties  as  to 
perfect  form.  I  can  only  name  a  few 
of  them  here,  which  may  be  counted 
among  the  very  best.  These  are  most- 
ly confined  to  the  class  of  Hybrid  Per- 
petuals :  Alfred  de  Eotalier,  Anna  Alex- 
ieff,  Charles  Lefebvre,  Jules  Margottin, 
Mademoiselle  Bonnaire,  Geant  de  Ba- 
tailles,  Eugene  Appert,  Comtesse  de 
Chabrilliant,  Beauty  of  Waltham,  John 
Hopper,  Victor  Verdier,  Lord  Palmer- 
ston,  and  Ornament  des  Jardins,  are 
all  most  exquisitely  formed  Eoses. 

Of  Tea  Eoses,  but  few  produce  fine 
expanded  flowers.  La  Pactole,  Eegulus, 
Bougere,  Devoniensis,  and  Madame  de 
Vatry  may  be  classed  as  some  of  the 
best. 

The  following  Bourbons  are  known  to 
expand  their  flowers  in  very  excellent 
shape;  Catharine  Guillot,  Souvenir  de 
la  Malmaison,  Louise  Darzens,  Acid- 
alie,  Louise  Margottin,  Model  of  Per- 
fection, and  George  Peabody. 

Undoubtedly  there  are  Eoses  which 
are  superior  to  those  mentioned  here 
under  the   various  heads,    and  which 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


181 


have  not  yet  made  their  way  to  this 
country.  After  an  absence  of  twenty- 
two  years  from  Europe,  the  great  field  of 
competition  and  production  of  new  va- 
rieties, I  should  not  feel  surprised  at 
all  to  find  there  many  valuable  sorts  of 
Roses,  heretofore  unknown  to  us  here. 
As  I  intend  to  visit  all  the  leading  nur- 
series of  the  East,  the  present  sum- 
mer, I  shall  certainly  keep  a  careful 
lookout  for  new  and  first-class  Roses 
and  bring  them  out  here  if  possible. 


CULTIVATION  AND  DKOUGHT. 


J.  D.,  Blair  County,  Pa.,  says:  "By 
very  frequent  stirring  deeply  plowed 
land  no  drought  will  prevent  a  crop." 
True — a  very  important  truth,  and  one 
well  worth  repeating  in  your  paper  ev- 
ery week  during  the  summer  droughts. 
By  the  destruction  of  the  weeds  the  fer- 
tility of  the  soil,  is  of  course,  secured 
for  the  growing  crop :  but  besides  this, 
such  cultivation  promotes  the  growth  of 
plants  in  four  ways : 

1.  It  destroys  the  weeds,  which  ex- 
hale the  moisture  of  the  soil  with  great 
rapidity  while  they  are  growing,  and 
to  a  greater  depth  than  is  dried  by  the 
rays  of  the  sun.  By  placing  a  sash  or 
a  pane  of  glass  upon  growing  weeds, 
the  upper  surface  of  their  leaves  will 
show  the  large  amount  of  moisture  they 
exhale,  the  evaporation  of  which  is  ar- 
rested by  the  glass,  and  which  would 
be  retained  in  the  soil  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  weeds. 

2.  Ground  thus  often  stirred,  and 
loose,  absorbs  most  of  the  water  of  oc- 
casional and  brief  showers,  and  retains 
it  until  much  of  it  settles  into  the  soil 
below ;  whereas  much  of  the  water  thus 
falling  runs  off  rapidly  from  a  hard  sur- 
face. 

3.  The    mellowed   surface   becomes 


more  thoroughly  warmed  than  a  hard 
soil  by  the  noonday  sun,  and  gives  off 
that  warmth  more  gradually  during  the 
night,  and  the  plants  are  thus  surround- 
ed by  an  atmosphere  warmer  and  of 
more  uniform  temperature,  during  the 
whole  twenty-four  hours. 

4.  But  the  greatest  advantage  of  fre- 
quent cultivation  in  our  dry  soil  is,  that 
the  loosened  soil  acts  as  a  mulch,  ar- 
rests the  ascent  of  the  moisture  by  ca- 
pillary attraction,  and  keeps  the  soil  in 
which  the  roots  are  acting  moist,  and 
in  good  condition  to  imbibe  and  retain 
all  the  moisture  that  reaches  it  through 
the  loosened  and  warmed  soil  upon  the 
surface.  To  secure  this  benefit  of  cul- 
tivating the  land,  it  ought  to  be  done 
just  as  soon  as  the  soil  becomes  friable, 
after  every  shower,  whether  there  be 
any  weeds  to  be  eradicated  or  not. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the 
roots  of  plants  are  benefited  by  direct 
contact  with  air  in  the  mellowed  soil. 
Air  is  always  injurious  to  them,  and  es- 
pecially so  if  it  be  hot  and  dry.  While 
the  plants  are  growing  their  roots  should 
not  be  exposed  to  the  air,  nor  should 
the  soil  in  which  they  grow  be  disturb- 
ed. The  full  benefit  of  cultivation  will 
be  secured  if  it  be  only  deep  enough  to 
furnish  a  few  inches  of  fine  and  loose 
soil  upon  the  surface.  It  is  often  said 
that  the  loosened  soil  absorbs  moisture 
from  the  atmosphere,  and  thus  aids  the 
growth  of  plants;  but  everyone  can  see 
that  the  surface  dries  much  more  quick- 
ly for  being  stirred,  and  it  is  very  clear 
that  what  little  moisture  is  thus  receiv- 
ed in  the  uight  is  quickly  evaporated, 
and  can  n_>t  reach  the  roots,  or  the  soil 
in  which  they  work. — Geobge  Haskell, 
Ipswich,  Mass. 


Fowls  are  recommended  to  be  kept  in 
orchards,  for  destroying  insects. 


182 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


COLORS  IN    NATURE    AND   FLOWERS. 


BY    AN  AMATEUE. 


To  cultivate  the  taste,  to  educate  the 
mind  to  perceive  and  appreciate  the 
beautiful  in  nature,  is  a  duty  which  we 
owe  to  ourselves  and  to  the  fair  world 
in  which  we  are  placed.  To  attain  to 
this  refinement  of  taste  may  certainly 
not  be  so  indispensably  necessary  to  us 
as  to  the  poet  or  the  painter,  but  it  is 
eminently  desirable  that  so  pure  and  re- 
fined a  pleasure  should  be  ours,  which 
may  assist  to  wean  us  from  inferior  pur- 
suits, elevate  our  groveling  minds  above 
the  low  level  of  passion  and  care,  and 
help  us  to  feel  more  reverence  and  love 
for  Him  who  hath  decked  the  earth  with 
such  numberless  and  diversified  beau- 
ties. 

In  accordance  with  the  invariable  sim- 
plicity of  nature,  from  the  three  primi- 
tive colors — blue,  red,  and  yellow — are 
produced  all  the  varied  tints  we  behold. 
These,  compounded  in  the  wondrous  ka- 
leidoscope of  nature,  are  amply  suffi- 
cient to  produce  the  varied  beauties  of 
flowers,  and  the  splendor  of  the  rain- 
bow. 

The  coloring  of  the  sky  can  scarcely 
fail  to  impress  the  least  susceptible  as 
being  extremely  beautiful,  and  well  does 
the  landscape  painter  know  what  pains 
it  has  cost  him  to  imitate  it  with  any- 
thing like  success.  The  deep  blue,  so 
intense  and  yet  so  unsubstantial,  and 
especially  the  graceful  clouds  that  float 
along  upon  its  surface,  changing  in  their 
hues  every  moment,  are  to  him  a  con- 
stant source  of  study  and  delight,  which, 
while  he  increasingly  admires,  he  de- 
spairs of  adequately  depicting.  And 
then  the  glorious  rainbow,  his  model  of 
coloring,  how  distinct  without  harsh- 
ness, and  soft  without  confusion !  How 
well  defined  is  every  tint,  yet  how  im- 
perceptibly blended.  What  gorgeous  col- 


ors are  often  seen  in  the  west  at  sun- 
set— what  profusion  of  gold,  and  crim- 
son, and  purple,  as  though  the  clouds 
in  their  richest  attire  clustered  around 
the  couch  of  the  king  of  day,  deter- 
mined that  he  who  had  run  his  race  so 
brilliantly  should  repose  in  royal  splen- 
dor! How  sweetly  and  insensibly  the 
yellow  tints  change  into  red,  and  these 
into  purple,  till  the  gray  mantle  of  twi- 
light falls  around  and  closes  the  scene ! 
Insensible,  indeed,  must  he  be  who  has 
not  stopped  and  lingered  to  admire  such 
beauties  as  these. 

The  coloring  of  the  landscape  varies 
very  considerably,  according  as  it  is 
seen  under  the  influence  of  light  or 
shade;  but  whether  contemplated  in 
summer  or  winter,  sunshine  or  storm, 
under  all  aspects  it  will  be  found  to 
possess  some  special  beauties.  In  the 
early  morning  the  dazzling  sun  floods 
the  landscape  with  his  silver  glories, 
and  distant  objects  are  crowded  and 
indistinct,  presenting  to  the  eye  only 
masses  of  gray,  and  the  absence  of  all 
detail  except  in  very  near  objects.  How 
beautifully  at  noon,  when  the  gorgeous 
clouds  are  slowly  sailing  along,  do  the 
shadows  glide  over  the  fields,  while  the 
sun  in  meridian  splendor  gilds  the  spark- 
ling streams!  How  charmingly  does  a 
yellow  harvest-field  in  the  foreground, 
with  its  brown  sheaves  and  busy  reap- 
ers, contrast  with  the  deep  blue  of  the 
distance.  At  evening  the  gray  twilight 
again  masses  the  distant  objects,  and, 
as  the  last  streaks  of  day  linger  in  the 
west,  the  whole  landscape  assumes  a 
subdued  tone,  and  tall  trees  and  lofty 
rocks  appear  with  unwonted  distinct- 
ness, yet  still  without  harshness,  against 
the  sky.  How  insensibly  the  distant 
hills  and  mountains  melt  into  the  at- 
mosphere. There  again  stretches  away 
a  continuity  of  wood,  with  its  varied 
tints,  and  here  a  silvery  stream  or  lake 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


183 


reflects  the  placid  sky  and  lends  life  and 
loveliness  to  the  scene. 

Now  as  to  the  coloring  of  flowers.  No 
objects  in  nature  have  such  brilliant 
coloring,  especially  in  California.  In 
them  we  have  colors  in  the  most  de- 
lightful combinations,  and  tints  modi- 
fied by  difference  of  surface  and  texture 
in  endless  variety.  Perhaps  yellow  is 
the  commonest  color  in  flowers,  and 
blue  the  rarest;  red  occupying  the  mid- 
dle station.  Of  these  the  tints  of  the 
red  flowers  are  more  diversified  than 
those  either  of  yellow  or  blue.  The 
many  shades  of  color  between  the  Nas- 
turtium and  the  Sweet-william  could 
not,  we  think,  be  paralleled  by  either 
of  the  other  colors.  It  is  interesting  to 
observe  how  the  flower  of  a  plant  in- 
variably harmonizes  in  color  with  its 
green  leaves,  some  by  similarity  and 
some  by  contrast.  How  finely  does  the 
snowy  blossom  of  the  Convolvulus  of 
the  canyon-side  harmonize  with  its  large, 
well-defined,  empurpled  leaves.  How 
beautifully  do  the  rich  warm  orange 
flowers  of  the  Nasturtium  contrast  with 
the  light-green  leaves  on  which  they 
repose.  How  becoming  the  cold-green 
leaves  of  the  double  Poppy  to  its  blos- 
som. How  admirably  do  the  little  white 
stars  of  the  Jasmine,  or  the  elaborate 
Passion-flower,  contrast  with  the  dark 
leaves  behind  them.  But  if  the  blos- 
soms of  the  Marigold  were  viewed  in 
connection  with  the  green  leaf  of  the 
Passion-flower,  even  an  unpracticed  eye 
would  quickly  detect  the  want  of  har- 
mony between  the  flower  and  the  leaf. 
Some  few  plants,  as  the  Marvel  of  Peru, 
strangely  produce  flowers  of  different 
colors  from  the  same  root,  but  this  is  of 
rare  occurrence  in  the  vegetable  world. 
It  is  also  interesting  to  observe  how 
exquisitely  the  various  tints  are  blend- 
ed in  the  individual  petals,  and  how 
symmetrically  these  in  their  turn  are 


arranged  so  as  to  form  a  complete  flow- 
er; as,  for  instance,  in  a  well-developed 
Dahlia.  How  inimitably,  in  the  deli- 
cate tints  of  the  Rose,  does  the  blue 
blend  with  the  warm  blushing  red  of 
the  centre  of  the  flower !  In  other  flow- 
ers, the  colors  are  not  so  softly  blend- 
ed, as  the  Nasturtium,  in  which  the  red 
is  dashed  as  it  were  on  the  orange,  yet 
without  the  least  harshness.  In  some 
the  petals  are  striped  and  variegated 
with  a  different  color  from  the  ground, 
as  the  Tulip  and  the  Geranium;  and  in 
others  each  petal  is  of  a  different  color 
at  the  inner  part,  as  the  Coreopsis. 
But,  however  fantastically  the  colors 
may  be  disposed,  or  however  strangely 
they  may  contrast,  there  is  always  a 
harmony  of  coloring,  and  a  softness  of 
effect,  which  must  be  pronounced  fault- 
less even  by  the  most  fastidious. 


TIMBEE    LANDS. 

The  House,  February  23d,  passed  the 
bill  providing  for  the  sale  of  timber 
lands  in  the  States  of  California,  Ore- 
gon and  the  Territories.  It  is  a  bill 
that  will  meet  with  general  ajDproval. 
It  provides,  in  brief,  that  any  person  or 
association  of  persons  may  purchase  not 
to  exceed  160  acres  of  any  timber  lands, 
"unfit for  cultivation,"  at  the  minimum 
price  of  $2.50  per  acre.  This,  of  course 
applies  only  to  surveyed  but  ' '  unoffer- 
ed "  lands.  The  application  must  be 
made  through  the  local  Land  Office  as 
with  other  public  lands.  The  applicant 
must  take  a  rigid  oath  that  the  entry  is 
for  his  own  use  and  benefit,  not  for  the 
purpose  of  speculation;  that  is,  "that 
he  has  not  made  any  agreement  or  con- 
tract with  any  person  whatever,  by 
which  the  title  which  he  might  acquire 
from  the  Government  should  inure  to 
the  benefit  of  any  person  except  him- 
self, which  statement  shall  be  verified 


184 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUBIST. 


by  the  oath  of  the  applicant  before  the 
Register  or  Receiver  of  the  Land  Office 
within  the  district  where  the  land  is 
situated;  and  if  any  person  on  taking 
such  oath  shall  swear  falsely,  he  shall 
be  subject  to  all  the  pains  and  penalties 
of  perjury,  and  shall  forfeit  the  money 
paid  for  said  lands  and  all  right  and 
title  to  the  same,  and  any  .conveyance 
which  he  may  have  made,  except  in  the 
hands  of  bona  fide  purchasers,  shall  be 
null  and  void." 

The  bill  furthermore  requires  that  the 
notice  of  intention  to  apply  for  a  patent 
to  such  lands  must  receive  due  publica- 
tion as  in  case  of  a  mining  patent.  Aft- 
er which,  if  there  be  no  adverse  claim- 
ants or  rights  filed,  the  patent  must  is- 
sue on  payment  of  the  price  named. 


CLOAK -CUP  MOENING-GLOEIES, 


BY   DB.   A.  KELLOGG. 


A  long  time  ago — during  the  last 
generation,  1860-62 — we  especially  in- 
vited public  attention  to  the  rare  grace 
and  perennial  verdure  of  a  woody  twiner 
common  around  the  Bay  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  in  many  parts  of  the  State, 
even  to  the  Mono  side  of  the  mountains 
east. 

The  native  Cloak-cup  Morning-glory 
(Calystegia  sepium,  L.)  is  one  of  the  har- 
diest and  freest  growers  known,  partic- 
ularly in  moist  localities,  where  it  beau- 
tifully festoons  trees  and  shrubs,  climb- 
ing fifteen  to  twenty  feet. 

We  challenge  any  gardener  to  show 
us  a  climber  of  more  grace  and  beauty, 
all  the  year  round,  for  adornment  of  ve- 
randas, summer-houses,  rustic  bowers, 
archways,  garden-screens,  etc. 

The  California  form  has  several  flow- 
ers on  each  flower-stem,  instead  of  only 
one,  as  described.  These  open  consec- 
utively: in  short,  it  is  always  in  bloom 


here.  When  first  open  they  are  white, 
or  chiefly  so,  becoming  purplish  with 
age. 

We  have  three  or  four  species  or  good 
varieties,  but  they  are  much  smaller, 
and  of  comparatively  little  importance. 

The  Chinese  variety  (C.  pubescetis)  is 
double  -  flowered,  pink  -  colored,  and 
crimped  up  irregularly;  quite  as  luxu- 
riant as  the  native;  thickening  up  and 
hiding  angular  and  unsightly  objects; 
covering  as  with  a  mantle  of  charity  ev- 
ery natural  defect  of  the  landscape,  ru- 
ral retreat,  or  cotter's  door.  Why  then 
do  we  not  cultivate  them? 


REMEDY  FOE  MILDEW. 

Some  years  ago  I  read,  in  a  German 
periodical  devoted  to  practical  chemis- 
try and  chemical  technology,  edited  by 
Dr.  Eisner,  that  molasses,  mixed  with 
water,  was  a  certain  remedy  for  mildew 
on  G-ooseberries;  but  no  proportions 
were  stated.  A  few  days  afterwards  I 
noticed  that  a  Gooseberry-bush  in  my 
garden  looked  as  though  it  had  been 
sprinkled  with  flour,  so  much  was  it  af- 
fected with  mildew.  I  immediately 
mixed  some  molasses  with  an  equal 
quantity  of  water  and  applied  it  to  the 
bush  with  a  common  syringe,  immers- 
ing some  of  the  branches  in  the  mix- 
ture. The  next  day  the  mildew  had 
disappeared,  the  black  spots  only  re- 
maining on  the  leaves  where  the  mildew 
had  destroyed  the  epidermis.  Since 
then  I  have  repeated  the  application 
every  year  with  the  same  result. 

I  find  that  it  is  better  to  take  rather 
more  water  than  molasses.  The  effica- 
cy of  the  remedy  is  evidently  based  on 
the  fact  that  it  excludes  the  air  from 
the  leaves,  forming  a  thin  cuticle  on , 
them  and  thus  suffocating  the  mildew. 
The  first  rain  will  dissolve  it  and  carry 
it  off.     Several  years  ago  a  weak  solu- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


185 


tion  of  common  glue  was  recommend- 
ed as  a  remedy  against  mildew  on 
GrajDe-vines — the  action  and  the  effect 
being  the  same  as  with  the  molasses — 
but  I  found  that  it  was  much  more  con- 
venient to  use  the  molasses  than  the 
glue.  Not  haying  the  opportunity  to 
try  either  of  these  remedies  on  Grape- 
vines, I  do  not  know  whether  it  will  de- 
stroy the  mildew  on  them. 

In  the  same  work  a  Mr.  Roberts  pro- 
posed another  remedy  for  mildew, 
which  he  called  "  sulphozone."  He 
found  that  precipitated  sulphur  had  no 
effect  on  mildew;  that  common  sulphur 
pulverized,  was  much  better,  but  that 
the  best  was  flour  of  sulphur.  He  has 
convinced  himself  that  the  flour  of  sul- 
phur, which  is  produced  by  sublima- 
tion, retains  a  great  deal  of  sulphurous 
acid  (not  sulphuric  acid,)  less  of  which 
is  found  in  pulverized,  and  hardly  any 
in  precipitated  sulphur.  He  added 
that  flour  of  sulphur  impregnated  with 
more  sulphurous  acid  than  it  naturally 
contains,  is  found,  by  physicians,  to  be 
a  more  powerful  remedy  for  destroying 
the  insects  which  produce  the  itch  than 
the  flour  of  sulphur  in  its  natural  state. 
He  prepared  a  powder  which  contained 
a  quantity  of  sulphurous  acid  four 
times  that  of  the  sulphur.  In  applying 
this  he  found  that  a  comparatively  small 
quantity  was  required  to  be  as  effective 
as  the  ordinary  flour  of  sulphur. 

His  suggestions  may  be  worthy  of  ex- 
periment on  plants  infested  with  mil- 
dew ,  but  should  be  conducted  cautious- 
ly for  fear  of  injuring  the  plant.  The 
flour  of  sulphur,  as  ordinarily  used  for 
checking  this  pest,  should  be  moistened 
with  some  sulphurous  acid,  but  in  what 
proportion  should  be  made  a  matter  of 

!  experiment. — Dr.  Siedhoff,  to  the  Amer- 

1  icon  Garden. 


Plant  flowers — they  will  reward  you. 

Vol.  V.— 22. 


NOTES  ON  MAEANTA   MAKOYANA   AND 

MESEMBEYANTHEMUM   COEDIFO- 

LIUM    YAELEGATUM. 

BY  J.    H.,   SOUTH    AMBOY,    N.     J. 

Among  the  popular  novelties  of  re- 
cent introduction,  entitled  to  a  promi- 
nent place,  is  this  lovely  Maranta.  It 
is  a  fine  addition  to  this  splendid  class 
of  ornamental  foliage  plants,  admirably 
adapted  for  planting  in  a  Fern  or  Ward- 
ian  case.  The  leaf-stalks  are  slender, 
erect,  and  of  a  reddish  purple.  The 
ground  color  on  the  upper  surface  of 
the  leaf  is  a  greenish  yellow  traversed 
by  veins  of  dark  green,  beautifully  or- 
namented on  each  side  of  the  midrib  by 
oblong  blotches  nearly  two  inches  in 
length  and  of  a  deep  full  green.  These 
blotches  are  very  decided  and  well  de- 
fined, showing  handsomely  on  the  un- 
der surface  which  is  a  wine  red,  giving 
to  the  whole  plant  a  very  distinct  and 
attractive  appearance,  equal  to  if  not 
surpassing  the  gorgeous  splendor  of 
Maranta  Veitchii  or  Lindenii.  There 
are  also  some  novelties  deserving  at- 
tention, as  being  particularly  suitable 
for  carpet  bedding,  such  as  Mesembry- 
anthemum  cordifolium  variegatum — a 
plant  that  has  only  to  be  seen  to  be  ad- 
mired and  to  become  a  universal  favor- 
ite. It  is  undoubtedly  the  best  varie- 
gated foliage  bedding-plant  that  has  yet 
been  introduced.  I  do  not  make  this 
statement  upon  the  strength  of  what  I 
have  heard,  read,  or  conjectured,  but 
upon  the  result  of  a  practical  test,*  un- 
der no  very  favorable  auspices.  I 
planted  it  out  late  in  the  season,  in  one 
of  the  hottest  driest  positions  possible, 
along  with  a  collection  of  other  succu- 
lents. During  the  dry  weather  we  had 
in  the  past  summer  in  this  locality,  such 
excellent  bedding  succulents  as  Eche- 
eria  pumilla,  E.  secunda,  and  E.  secunda 
glauca,  shriveled  and  turned  brown,  and 


186 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTURIST. 


finally  had  to  be  taken  up.  This  gem 
remained  in  perfect  health,  its  innumer- 
able crystal-like  specks  glistening  in 
the  sunshine  —  an  object  replete  with 
beauty.  It  has  been  proved  that  spring 
struck  cuttings  are  .very  superior  to 
those  that  are  struck  in  autumn. 


THE  PEOFITS  OF  FLAX  CULTUEE,  AND 
ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  THE  SOIL. 

It  is  commonly  said  that  Flax  ex- 
hausts the  soil  rapidly.  This  is  true  if 
the  Flax  is  pulled;  then  nothing  is  re- 
turned to  the  ground.  Flax  sown  for 
the  fibre  and  lint,  and  not  for  seed,  is 
the  kind  commonly  used  in  Ireland,  and 
it  takes  the  strength  of  the  land,  so  that 
for  continued  culture  suitable  manures 
must  be  applied. 

But  the  Flax  mostly  sowed  thus  far 
in  Oregon  has  been  sown  for  the  seed. 
It  is  shorter  and  more  branching.  Its 
fibre  is  strong  and  valuable  for  many 
purposes,  but  it  is  mostly  thrown  away. 
This  Flax  is  cut  with  a  reaper  or  head- 
er and  thrashed  like  Wheat. 

Colonel  T.  R.  Cornelius  states  that 
he  sowed  this  seed  upon  land  that 
would  have  lain  fallow,  and  gained  a 
three-fold  benefit.  First,  it  grew  so 
thick  as  to  choke  the  weeds  entirely; 
second,  he  got  a  crop  of  seed  equal  in 
value  to  the  "Wheat  crop  of  the  previous 
year;  third,  the  Flax  stubble  plowed  in 
enriched  his  land  and  put  it  in  as  good 
order  for  Wheat  the  next  year  as  if  it 
hacf  lain  fallow.  Some  of  his  neigh- 
bors failed  of  a  good  crop  of  seed  that 
year  because  they  sowed  too  late  and 
upon  too  dry  ground.  It  needs  moist 
land.  If  these  two  conditions  are  re- 
garded, there  seems  to  be  no  reason  to 
let  ground  lie  fallow  every  other  year. 
If  this  kind  of  Flax  will  kill  the  weeds, 
give  a  crop  of  seed  of  equal  value  to 
one  of  Wheat,  and  enrich  the  soil  with 


stubble,  farmers  can  increase  their  per- 
manent profits  by  its  culture. 

But  a  fourth  benefit  can  be  gained. 
Soil  too  wet  for  other  crops  can  be  used 
for  this  one. 

A  fifth  and  greater  benefit  than  all 
can  be  gained  by  saving  the  Flax  straw 
for  the  sake  of  the  fibre.  William 
Eeid,  Esq.,  who  is  doing  so  much  to 
bring  our  north-west  coast  into  proper 
notice,  relates  that  a  few  years  since  the 
government  of  Australia  offered  a  boun- 
ty of  $25,000  for  1,000  yards  of  linen, 
made  of  their  Flax.  The  difficulty  of 
the  task  was  that  the  Flax  raised  there 
s  filled  with  gum,  which  the  weavers  of 
Dundee  could  not  extract.  It  injured 
their  looms.  The  fibre  was  very  strong 
and  good  for  ropes  and  cables,  if  kept 
under  water,  but  when  dry  they  would 
crack  and  become  worthless. 

But  the  great  bonus  induced  them  to 
try  the  experiment.  By  much  perse- 
verance the  1,000  yards  were  made  and 
the  reward  was  paid,  but  the  cloth  was 
gummy  and  of  poor  quality.  The  chem- 
ist also  who  succeeded  in  extracting 
the  gum  spoiled  the  fibre,  and  that  Flax 
had  to  be  given  up.  While  this  trial 
was  in  process,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Reid's 
sent  him  a  hank  of  Flax,  raised  for  Mr; 
Holman,  of  Salem,  Oregon,  for  the 
seed.  Mr.  Reid  was  surprised  at  its 
softness,  fineness,  and  strength  of  fibre. 
He  showed  it  to  some  of  the  linen  man- 
ufacturers of  Dundee.  They  were  more 
surprised.  They  doubted  the  story  of 
its  production  in  America,  and  thought 
that  some  one  had  deceived  him.  He 
asked  what  they  would  give  per  ton  for 
such  Flax.  One  man  offered  £55  or 
$275  per  ton,  and  another  £60  or  $300 
per  ton,  and  pledged  themselves  ready 
to  bargain  for  ten  years,  as  the  Flax 
supply  in  Ireland  is  failing  every  year. 

Mr.  Reid  sent  a  sample  to  Belfast, 
the  great  linen  manufactory  of  Europe. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


187 


That  sample  brought  Mr.  Smith  and 
the  Williamson  Brothers  from  Belfast 
to  Oregon  last  year.  They  introduced 
the  Flax-seed  which  produces  the  long 
fibre,  and  raised  over  200  acres  of  it. 
This  lint  has  been  sent  to  Belfast,  re- 
ceived, and  reported  in  their  journals. 
The  success  is  so  remarkable  that  the 
most  sanguine  are  surprised.  The 
Messrs.  "Williamson  have  already  hired 
400  acres  for  next  year's  crop,  at^a  rent- 
al of  $15  per  acre. 

Mr.  Reid  remarks  that  Flax  will 
bring  out  Oregon  and  Washington, 
even  if  we  had  nothing  else. 

The  papers  report  that  Mr.  Holman 
has  engaged  our  farmers  to  sow  12,000 
acres  this  year  for  the  seed  alone.  The 
straw  or  fibre  for  the  most  part  will 
probably  be  thrown  away  as  in  years 
past.  Yet  this  Flax,  prepared  and  sent 
to  Dundee,  is  worth  from  $200  to  $300 
per  ton.  If  not  sent,  at  that  price  it  will 
bear  to  be  made  into  burlaps,  twine, 
and  cordage  in  Oregon  as  well  as  in 
California. — Bulletin. 


THE  STINGING  TEEE. 

One  of  the  torments  which  the  trav- 
eler is  subjected  to  in  the  North  Aus- 
tralian scrubs  is  a  stinging  tree  (Urti- 
ca  gigas),  which  is  very  abundant,  and 
ranges  in  size  from  a  large  scrub  of  thir- 
ty feet  in  height  to  a  small  plant  meas- 
uring only  a  few  inches.  Its  leaf  is 
large,  and  peculiar  from  being  covered 
with  a  short,  silvery  hair,  which,  when 
shaken,  emits  a  fine  pungent  dust,  most 
irritating  to  the  skin  and ,  nostrils.  If 
touched  it  causes  most  acute  pain,  which 
is  felt  for  months  afterward — a  dull, 
gnawing  pain,  accompanied  by  a  burn- 
ing sensation,  particularly  in  the  shoul- 
der and  under  the  arm,  where  small 
lumps    often    arise.      Even  when  the 


sting  has  quite  died  away,  the  unwary 
bushman  is  forcibly  reminded  of  his  in- 
discretion each  time  that  the  affected 
part  is  brought  into  contact  with  water. 
The  fruit  is  of  a  pink  fleshy  color,  hang- 
ing in  clusters,  so  inviting  that  a  stran- 
ger is  irresistibly  tempted  to  pluck  it, 
but  seldom  more  than  once,  for,  though 
the  Raspberry-like  berries  are  harmless 
in  themselves,  some  contact  with  the 
leaves  is  almost  unavoidable.  The 
blacks  are  said  to  eat  the  fruit,  but  for 
this  I  can  not  vouch,  though  I  have 
tasted  one  or  two  at  odd  times,  and 
found  them  very  pleasant.  The  worst 
of  this  nettle  is  the  tendency  it  exhib- 
its to  shoot  up  wherever  a  clearing  has 
been  effected.  In  passing  along  the 
dray-tracks  cut  through  the  scrub,  great 
caution  was  necessary  to  avoid  the 
young  plants  that  cropped  up  even  in  a 
few  weeks.  I  have  never  known  of  a 
case  of  its  being  fatal  to  human  beings, 
but  I  have  seen  people  subjected  by  it 
to  great  suffering;  notably  a  scientific 
gentleman,  who  plucked  off  a  branch 
and  carried  it  some  distance  as  a  curi- 
osity, wondering  the  while  what  caused 
the  pain  and  numbness  in  his  arm. 
Horses  I  have  seen  die  in  agony  from 
the  sting,  the  wounded  parts  becoming 
paralyzed;  but  strange  to  say,  it  does 
not  seem  to  injure  cattle,  who  dash 
through  the  scrubs  full  of  it  without  re- 
ceiving any  damage.  This  curious  an- 
omaly is  well  known  to  all  bushmen. 
— Cassell's  Illustrated  Travels. 


DON'T  SHOOT  THE  SMALL  BIRDS. 

The  classic  Oaks  of  Berkeley  are  being 
devoured  by  caterpillars,  and  to  the 
visitor  who  for  the  first  time  sees  the 
place  overrun  by  myriads  of  these  inde- 
fatigable little  crawlers  it  seems  as  if 
every  green  leaf  and  blade  of  grass 
must    soon     disappear.      Apparently, 


188 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


however,  they  are  fastidious  in  regard 
to  their  diet,  and  avoid  the  strongly- 
scented  and  aromatic  Blue  Gums  and 
Cypresses,  for  within  the  plantations  of 
those  trees  not  a  caterpillar  is  to  be 
seen.  In  all  the  other  parts  of  the 
University  grounds  they  swarin;  colo- 
nies of  them  have  spun  gossamer  nets 
in  the  boughs  of  the  Live  Oaks;  they 
take  possession  of  the  paths,  and  one 
can  not  step  without  crushing  them; 
they  crawl  over  the  sides  of  the  stu- 
dents' cottages  and  even  invade  the 
sanctity  of  the  professors'  gardens  and 
residences;  they  drop  on  the  heads  of 
the  young  people  in  the  picnic  grounds, 
and  float  wriggling  and  kicking  in  the 
waters  of  the  brook.  The  students  in- 
deed bear  the  visitation  with  the  com- 
posure of  philosophers.  Possibly  the 
plague  keeps  their  friends  away  and  di- 
minishes the  distractions  to  which  they 
are  subjected  by  the  visits  of  "the  pro- 
fane vulgar."  Seriously,  however,  it  is 
a  pity  to  see  the  Oaks  stripped  by  these 
voracious  little  creatures,  and  the  stu- 
dents of  the  Agricultural  Department 
might  profitably  exercise  their  ingenui- 
ty to  rid  the  place  of  such  pests :  One 
of  the  lessons  which  the  annoyance 
teaches  is  that  the  lads  who  shoot  the 
small  birds  destroy  the  farmer's  most 
efficient  allies  in  his  continual  struggle 
with  the  insect  hordes  that  ravage  his 
fields  and  orchards.  This  truth  has  at 
last,  after  generations  of  ignorant  prej- 
udice and  misapprehension,  been  rec- 
ognized in  England,  and  an  act  has 
been  passed  prohibiting  the  taking  or 
shooting  of  about  eighty  varieties  of 
wild  birds,  from  the  16th  of  March  to 
the  1st  of  August;  although,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  the  blackbird,  the  sky- 
lark, and  the  thrush  have  not  been  pla- 
ced under  the  protection  of  the  law.  The 
next  legislature  would  do  well  to  stop 
the  destruction  of  small  birds   during 


the  breeding  and  rearing  season,  so 
that  we  may  escape  the  possible  danger 
of  grasshopper  and  grub  plagues  in  our 
hitherto  favored  State.  The  difficulty 
at  Berkeley,  perhaps,  is  due  to  the  shy- 
ness of  most  of  the  wild  birds,  which 
rarely  live  near  human  habitations;  but 
there  is  the  sparrow,  a  sociable  fellow, 
as  little  afraid  of  a  student  as  a  street 
gamin  is  of  a  policeman,  and  a  dozen 
imported  from  New  York  would  be  as 
useful  at  Berkeley  as  they  proved  in  the 
Central  Park  when  imported  from  Lon- 
don. In  conclusion,  we  would  appeal 
to  the  good  sense  of  our  boys  and 
young  men,  and  ask  them  not  to  shoot 
the  small  birds. — Call. 


ALDEN  PROCESS  OF  FRUIT  -  DRYING. 

Highly  favorable  reports  come  from 
all  the  Alden  drying-houses;  while  the 
other  methods  of  artificial  dessication 
are  either  failures,  successful  in  a  minor 
degree,  or  not  yet  sufficiently  tried  to 
establish  their  value  among  people  in 
their  vicinity.  The  inventors  usually 
claim  high  merits  for  their  plans,  but 
no  method  of  artificial  drying,  save  the 
Alden,  has  been  extensively  adopted 
or  is  generally  known  even  by  name  in 
California.  In  reference  to  the  Alden 
drier  at  Sonoma,  the  Healdsburg  Flag 
says: 

"  It  is  the  intention  to  start  the  fac- 
tory this  year  by  the  first  of  April.  The 
company  have  contracted  with  General 
Vallejo  and  others  for  large  quantities 
of  Green  Peas  at  $37.50  per  ton,  deliv- 
ered at  the  factory.  They  will  run  on 
Peas  until  fruit  is  sufficiently  ripe. 
They  have  also  contracted  for  a  large 
supply  of  Onions,  and,  if  they  find  it 
practicable,  will  add  Potatoes  to  the 
list  of  their  products,  hoping  thereby 
to  continue  running  the  year  round. 
The  ruling  price  paid  for  Apples  deliv- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


18U 


ered  at  the  factory,  last  year,  was  $10 
per  ton;  Pears,  $12;  Plums  $12  to  $20. 
The  factory  now  has  three  evaporators, 
and  can  cure  six  tons  of  Peas,  four  and 
one-half  tons  of  Apples  or  Peaches, 
three  and  one-half  tons  of  Pears,  or 
three  tons  of  Plums  every  twenty-four 

hours. 

■ • 

THE  RESPIRATION  OF  LEAYES  IN  THE 
DARK. 

An  important  paper  by  Deherain  and 
Maissan,  upon  the  respiration  of  leaves 
in  the  dark,  has  lately  been  published 
in  Comptes  Bendus.  Among  the  more 
important  conclusions  reached  by  the 
authors  in  their  researches  are:  First, 
that  the  quantity  of  carbonic  acid  which 
is  thrown  off  by  leaves  in  the  dark  in- 
creases with  the  increase  of  tempera- 
ture; second,  that  the  quantity  of  car- 
bonic acid  thrown  off  is  comparable  to 
that  yielded  by  the  cold-blooded  ani- 
mals; third,  that  leaves  kept  in  the 
dark  absorb  more  oxygen  than  they 
throw  off  carbonic  acid;  fourth,  that 
leaves  continue  to  throw  out  carbonic 
acid  in  an  atmosphere  deprived  of  oxy- 
gen. 

The  authors  present  the  following 
hypothesis  upon  the  physiological  uses 
of  this  internal  combustion  which  takes 
place  in  the  leaves,  as  the  result  of  their 
numerous  experiments.  The  immedi- 
ate constituents  which  are  necessary  to 
the  growth  of  the  plants,  and  to  the 
formation  of  new  organs,  are  in  part 
formed  in  the  leaves.  This  growth  is 
especially  favored  by  warmth  in  the 
dark;  a  principle  well  known  to  gar- 
deners, who  cover  plants,  the  develop- 
ment of  which  they  wish  to  accelerate, 
under  glass,  in  which  case  a  part  of  the 
light  necessary  for  the  composition  of 
the  carbonic  acid  is  reflected,  but  an  el- 
evated temperature  is  secured.     This 


heat  in  the  dark  is  especially  favorable 
to  an  active  respiration,  as  we  find  that 
the  quantity  of  carbonic  acid  increases 
in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  temper- 
ature in  the  leaf,  so  that  there  seems  to 
be  a  relation  between  the  rapidity  of 
growth  and  the  energy  of  respiration. 

This  can  easily  be  appreciated,  when 
we  assume  that  a  certain  portion  of  the 
heat  must  enter  into  action,  in  order  to 
the  formation  of  the  intermediate  prin- 
ciples. The  internal  combustion,  which 
is  indicated  by  the  absorption  of  oxy- 
gen and  the  throwing  off  of  carbonic 
acid,  is  probably  the  source  of  the  heat 
necessary  for  the  formation  of  the  new 
immediate  constituents. 


An  Eccentric  Peruvian  Plant. — In 
speaking  of  the  wonderful  fertility  of 
the  soil  in  Peru,  I  have  never  spoken 
of  a  little  plant,  or  leaf,  they  have  here, 
which  I  never  met  with  in  any  other 
place  or  country.  I  do  not  know  the 
botanical  name,  and  I  hope  that  some 
botanist  or  savant  can  give  me  the 
name  and  species.  The  natives  take  a 
simple  pale-green  leaf,  something  like 
a  Fern,  and  pin  it  to  the  wall  with  a 
common  pin  stuck  through  it — just  pin 
it  on  to  the  plain  adobe  wall.  Some- 
times they  fasten  it  up  with  a  tack. 
The  leaf  itself  is  not  so  large  as  a  Gera- 
nium leaf.  Incredible  as  it  may  seem, 
from  this  leaf  will  spread  out  tiny  ten- 
drils and  shoots,  and  delicate  leaves 
will  form,  spread,  run,  and  cover  the 
whole  wall.  I  had  one  in  my  own  side- 
yard,  or  corral,  that  covered  the  entire 
side  of  the  wall,  and  it  grew  from  one 
small  leaf,  pinned  on  to  the  adobe  to 
hold  it  in  place.  It  becomes  a  thrifty 
running-vine.  I  would  not  believe  it 
possible  but  that  I  have  seen  it  repeat- 
edly and  successfully  tried.  —  Chicago 
Tribune. 


190 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


EUROPEAN    SYSTEM    OF   BASKET- 
PLANTING. 

BY   CHAELES    MOHB. 

This  system,  so  popular  among  nur- 
serymen in  Europe,  is  as  yet  not  adopt- 
ed here;  though  its  merits  are  so  great, 
and,  at  the  same  time  so  cheap  and 
easy,  that  certainly  your  nurserymen 
should  avail  themselves  of  it. 

Gardeners  in  Italy  and  southern 
France  do  not  make  any  use  of  green- 
houses or  sashes,  but  for  tropical  plants. 
Their  manner  of  growing  semi-tropical 
and  other  valuable  evergreen  trees  and 
shrubs,  as  Oranges,  Lemons,  Magnoli- 
as, Camellias,  Azaleas,  Rhododendrons, 
Coniferas,  etc.,  consists  in  planting 
them,  instead  of  in  pots  or  boxes,  in 
plain-made  baskets  of  "Willows,  sink- 
ing them  into  the  ground  in  such  lo- 
calities as  are  most  appropriate  to  the 
plants. 

Naturally  the  larger  roots  will  be 
confined  in  the  basket,  but  the  smaller 
roots,  which  penetrate  through  the 
small  openings,  will  derive  nourish- 
ment and  moisture  from  the  surround- 
ing earth.  This  saves  a  great  deal  of 
time,  which  otherwise  would  be  spent 
in  irrigation,  where  the  plants  are  pot- 
ted or  boxed.  In  fact,  the  plants  treat- 
ed in  this  manner  have  the  same  healthy 
and  robust  appearance  as  if  they  were 
planted  in  the  open  ground;  and  the 
facilities  of  moving  and  transporting 
them  are  so  great,  that  no  other  system 
can  equal  it.  All  that  is  necessary  to 
be  done  is  to  dig  out  the  baskets  care- 
fully. In  case  of  shipping,  add  an  em- 
ballage  of  moss  and  cloth,  and  the 
plants  will  arrive  safely  at  their  place 
of  destination. 

In  San  Francisco,  where  baskets  cer- 
tainly would  be  too  dear,  boxes  made  of 
small  open  laths  will  answer  the  same 
purpose. 


(MWoraJ  iwtMifl. 


RHODODENDRON  CALIEORNICUM. 

We  give  in  this  number  of  our  jour- 
nal a  true  representation  of  this  beauti- 
ful California  flowering  shrub,  which 
grows  with  great  luxuriance  in  Santa 
Cruz  County  and  a  few  other  localities. 

The  R.  Calif ornicum  belongs  to  a  nu- 
merous family  of  evergreen  flowering 
shrubs,  which  are  considered  in  the 
East  and  in  Europe  valuable  acquisi- 
tions for  the  gardens  and  conservato- 
ries. Here  on  the  Pacific  Coast  they 
have  until  lately  commanded  but  little 
attention;  but  we  believe  that  there  are 
at  present  a  pretty  good  number  of 
these  plants  in  cultivation  in  this  city 
and  its  vicinity.  They  do  not,  howev- 
er, do  so  well  here  as  in  some  other 
parts  of  the  world,  but  inasmuch  as  the 
R.  Calif  ornicum  grows  to  such  perfec- 
tion within  a  few  miles  of  San  Francis- 
co, we  have  every  reason  to  suppose 
that  some  of  the  other  sorts  could  also 
be  grown  with  satisfaction  in  our  gar- 
dens. The  efforts  which  have  been 
made  by  our  gardeners  and  nurserymen 
without  much  success  can  be  by  no 
means  considered  final.  We  saw  some 
good  varieties  of  this  plant  at  Mr.  Har- 
mon's place,  Oakland,  in  his  conserva- 
tory. R.  Californicum  is  found  grow- 
ing in  masses  along  the  margin  of 
creeks,  and  in  hollows,  in  a  damp  sandy 
soil.  It  attains  the  height  of  from  four 
to  six  feet,  having  a  beautiful  dark- 
green,  glossy  foliage,  and  clusters  of 
flowers  of  a  delicate  rose  color.  Its 
flowers  are  developed  during  the  early 
part  of  May,  and  remain  in  bloom  for 
some  time.  The  specimen  from  which 
our  plate  was  taken  was  found  growing 
at  Waddell's  Mills,  Santa  Cruz  County. 
The  original  painting,  from  nature,  was 
executed  by  A.  W.  Saxe,  of  San  Jose, 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


191 


through  whose  kind  permission  we  are 
enabled  to  introduce  it,  and  to  furnish 
our  readers  with  a  representation  of  one 
of  the  many  native  floral  beauties  of 
California. 

This  genus  of  plants,  by  the  attention 
of  modern  culturists,  has  been  render- 
ed truly  splendid,  and  is  now  indispen- 
sable to  every  well-furnished  garden. 
It  contains  about  twenty  hardy  species 
at  least,  some  of  them  being  natives 
of  the  coldest  mountain  regions.  They 
do  not  seem  benefited  by  exposure  to 
the  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  In  a  hot 
sunny  place  the  foliage  is  often  scorch- 
ed, the  growth  stinted,  and  the  flower- 
heads  few  and  small.  The  soil  usually 
prepared  for  them  is  a  peaty  or  marsh 
soil,  with  an  addition  of  sand  or  loam. 
The  plants  are  more  extensively  raised 
from  seed  than  by  any  other  method, 
though  both  layers  and  cuttings  may  be 

employed. 

♦ 

INSECT  PESTS  IN  CALIFORNIA. 

We  have  strong  reasons  for  believ- 
ing that  the  different  species  of  cater- 
pillars that  we  find  committing  such 
ravages  on  fruit-trees,  especially  Apple, 
and  also  on  the  Oak  and  some  other 
trees,  are  old  inhabitants  here,  and  it  is 
quite  possible  their  birth  may  have 
originated  in  this  country,  though  until 
lately  they  have  not  been  found  very 
numerous.  It  seems  our  many  newly 
planted  orchards  have  attracted  them, 
or  their  late  rapid  increase  has  caused 
them  to  spread  out  on  all  kinds  of  veg- 
etation. During  our  visit  to  Napa  Val- 
ley last  summer,  we  observed  millions 
of  white  moths,  or  the  perfect  insects, 
flitting  up  and  through  the  Oaks  there. 
They  had  been  preceded,  qf  course,  by 
as  many  millions  of  caterpillars.  "We 
are  informed  that  this  year  they  are 
even  more  numerous  than    the    last. 


They  have  invaded  the  orchards  terri- 
bly, and  if  they  are  not  destroyed  as  soon 
as  they  appear  as  they  do  often  in  clus- 
ters, it  is  fearful  to  think  to  what  an 
extent  in  future  they  may  commit  rav- 
ages. It  is  comparatively  easy  work 
to  destroy  these  clusters  in  various  ways 
early  in  the  morning. 


HOKTICULTUKAL    DEPAKTMENT 
AT  THE  MECHANICS'  INSTITUTE  FAIR. 

Preparations  for  the  Horticultural 
Hall  at  the  great  Fair  to  commence  on 
the  17th  of  August  are  progressing 
quite  favorably.  The  garden  in  the 
hall  is  being  made  with  activity  and  en- 
ergy, and  the  exhibition  there  promises 
to  be  effective.  It  will  cover  an  area  of 
200  by  75  feet  at  the  south-east  corner  of 
the  Pavilion.  Access  to  it  will  be  gain- 
ed at  its  south-east  corner,  through  a 
broad  and  easy  entrance  from  the  Pa- 
vilion. Fifty  feet  of  the  south  end  will 
comprise  a  sort  of  plateau  or  terrace  to 
be  paved  with  varicolored  tiles,  and  de- 
voted especially  to  the  use  of  exhibitors 
of  plants,  cut-flowers,  etc. 

THE  PLAN  OF  THE  GABDEN. 

The  remainder,  which  is  150  by  75 
feet,  and  is  reached  from  the  terrace  by 
a  broad  and  handsome  flight  of  descend- 
ing steps,  will  constitute  the  horticultu- 
ral garden  proper;  it  has  been  laid  out 
by  A.  P.  Hall,  the  landscape  artist, 
with  curving  walks  neatly  bordered, 
fountains,  bowers,  and  other  pleasant 
accessories.  There  will  be  a  large 
fountain  about  the  centre,  a  rockery 
north  of  it,  and  at  the  north  end  a  real 
cataract.  About  the  outside  will  be 
creeping  plants,  trailing  vines,,  and  trees 
planted  in  lines  and  clusters.  Palms, 
Ferns,  evergreens,  and  so  forth,  have 
been  already  set  out  and  are  growing 
finely.  Grass  was  sown  some  months 
ago,  and  has  come  to  such  maturity  as 


192 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


to  make  its  cutting  necessary.  It  will 
form  a  fine  sod  by  midsummer.  The 
sides  of  the  horticultural  building  will 
be  covered  with  boards,  and  the  roof 
with  canvas,  of  which  it  will  require 
3,000  square  yards.  Medals,  premiums, 
and  diplomas  will  be  awarded  to  exhib- 
itors in  this  department  as  in  all  others. 
We  trust  our  nurserymen  and  florists 
will  be  well  and  generally  represented, 
and  that  their  show  will  confer  honora- 
ble reputation  to  the  State  and  to  them- 
selves. 


MARIN  COUNTY— SAN   RAFAEL,  SAUCE- 
LITO,  ETC. 

"We  have  received  a  neat  pamphlet, 
indeed  almost  a  book,  written  by  George 
"W.  Grift,  containing  an  interesting,  in- 
telligent, and  very  fair  description,  not 
only  of  California  in  general,  but  of 
Marin  County  in  particular,  its  climate, 
health,  wealth,  and  resources;  also,  a 
series  of  carefully  written  and  well  con- 
sidered articles  describing  the  very 
healthy  site  of  San  Rafael,  in  which  the 
mildness  and  equability  of  its  climate 
are  explained,  and  its  exceedingly  beau- 
tiful and  romantic  scenery  portrayed. 
"We  can  bear  testimony  to  the  truthful 
statements  contained  in  these  sketches 
of  one  of  the  most  important  and  valu- 
able of  our  coast  districts,  as  we  have 
had  the  pleasure  of  visiting  it  on  several 
occasions,  and  inspecting  some  of  the 
rich  dairy  establishments  and  other  in- 
terests carried  on  there.  The  land  is 
chiefly  adapted  for  fine  grazing,  but 
some  grain  and  many  excellent  fruits 
and  vegetables  are  successfully  raised. 
The  climate  of  San  Rafael  for  invalids 
is  not  surpassed,  if  equaled,  by  any  in 
the  State.  This  pamphlet  should  be 
read  by  everybody  who  is  desirous  of 
knowing  anything  about  this  San  Rafael 
paradise. 


PROPOSED  NEW  TOWN  OF  NEWARK. 

Among  the  many  choice  and  beauti- 
ful sites  for  towns  and  rural  residences 
on  the  Pacific  slope  is  the  location  for 
the  above-named  town.  Here  the  land 
is  about  as  rich  as  nature  ever  makes  it, 
and  the  climate  is  favorable  not  only  for 
all  our  common  fruits,  but  for  many  of 
the  semi-tropical.  In  our  recent  visit 
to  this  advantageous  location  for  subur- 
ban places  for  our  business  men  and 
small  farmers,  we  saw  Orange-trees  in 
bearing  about  twelve  feet  in  height  (at 
the  old  San  Jose  mission,  near  by,  they 
were  eighteen  feet),  and  whose  stems 
were  four  inches  in  diameter.  They 
were  in  perfect  health,  and  with  their*' 
blossoms,  shining  leaves,  and  their  fine 
fruit,  presented  most  lovely  pictures. 
This  valuable  land  can  be  reached  either 
by  rail  or  steamboat  in  a  short  time. 
Like  Saucelito,  San  Rafael,  and  a  few 
other  choice  spots  for  dwellings,  gar- 
dens, and  other  country  improvements, 
Newark  is  now  about  to  take  its  well- 
deserved  position  among  our  bay-shore 
attractions. 


WOODWARD'S    GARDENS. 

The  march  of  improvements  of  many 
kinds  is  still  onward  at  this  well-ar- 
ranged and  well-kept  public  resort  for 
amusement  and  recreation,  and  also  in- 
struction in  several  both  animate  and 
inanimate  subjects  of  science — especial- 
ly natural  history.  The  botanical  de- 
partment, under  the  able  management 
of  Mr.  Charles  Mohr,  is  advancing  as 
well  as  all  lovers  of  Horticulture  and 
Floriculture  could  desire.  His  group 
of  rockeries  in  the  conservatory  is  most 
tasteful  and  artistic,  and  adorned  with 
a  choice  varied  and  rare  selection  of 
Ferns  flourishing  most  luxuriantly. 
Overhead  on  the  walls  are  many  beau- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


193 


tiful  and  luxuriantly  growing  climbers. 
At  one  end  of  the  conservatory  there  is 
another  handsome  and  picturesque  rock- 
ery, adorned  with  a  fine  collection  of 
Cacti.  But  the  very  latest  embellish- 
ment in  the  grounds,  and  designed 
by  Mr.  Mohr,  is  a  romantic  one-arched 
bridge  of  rock-work,  thrown  over  the 
narrow  passage-way  between  the  two 
ponds,  one  of  which  contains  the  circu- 
lar boat.  Near  the  bridge  is  an  octagon 
rustic  summer-house  of  excellent  work- 
manship, with  a  rock-work  foundation. 
On  advancing  to  these  structures  in  the 
path  from  the  main  cabinet  building 
they  present  themselves  to  the  admir- 
ing gaze  of  the  visitor  with  "Weeping 
Willows  and  Australian  Acacias  form- 
ing a  rich  and  graceful  background; 
and  the  effect  of  the  bridge  is  to  en- 
large the  view,  and  add  much  to  the 
beauty  of  the  miniature  lakes. 

The  orangery  to  the  left  of  the  ro- 
tunda, which  was  formerly  the  grapery, 
contains  the  finest  varieties  of  this  fa- 
vorite fruit,  together  with  the  best  spe- 
cies of  Lemons.  In  the  side  borders 
are  Palms.  Altogether,  the  horticult- 
ural department  of  these  popular  gar- 
dens is  greatly  improved,  both  under 
glass  and  in  the  open  air,  and  does 
much  credit  to  Mr.  Mohr's  skill  and 
management.  The  plant  and  tropical 
greenhouses  are  in  the  finest  order,  and 
are  continually  being  added  to  by  the 
rarest  plants.  The  Fern-house,  where 
once  was  the  aviary,  is  filled  with  a 
splendid  exhibition  of  this  most  inter- 
esting and  elegant  genus  of  plants. 
The  museum  of  natural  history,  direct- 
ly opposite  the  entrance  gate,  has  lately 
undergone  a  thorough  re-adjustment  in 
all  its  compartments  and  cases.  Un- 
der the  able  operations  of  Mr.  C.  Ste- 
phens and  Professor  F.  Gruber,  all  the 
specimens  have  undergone  a  complete 
scientific  classification  and  labeling. 


The  marine  and  fresh-water  aquari- 
um, under  the  superintendence  of  Pro- 
fessor C.  Schuman,  still  upholds  all  its 
most  interesting  features.  Both  the 
sea  and  fresh-water  fishes  of  many  vari- 
eties are  doing  well,  and  some  of  them, 
especially  the  different  species  of  trout, 
are  much  increasing  in  size. 

Another  lofty  fence  is  being  erected 
on  the  north-west  side  of  the  grounds, 
to  act  as  an  effective  screen  against  our 
strong  summer  trade-winds,  and  to  pro- 
tect invalids,  and  persons  in  delicate 
health,  when  visiting  and  perambulat- 
ing the  gardens.  Thus  the  public-spir- 
ited proprietor  is  evidently  quite  liber- 
al in  his  expenditures  in  all  these  im- 
provements in  catering  to  the  pleasures 
and  enjoyments  of  his  visitors. 


EOBEETSON'S    NUESEEY. 


Nearly  opposite  the  long-established 
nurseries  and  plant  -  houses  lately  of 
Edw.  L.  Reimer,  but  now  of  W.  Mey- 
er, corner  of  Folsom  and  Nineteenth 
Streets,  is  the  neat,  well  arranged  and 
managed  nursery  and  floral  place  of 
"William  Robertson.  This  business  has 
been  carried  on  for  some  years,  and  the 
stock  turned  out  by  the  skill  of  Mr.  Rob- 
ertson, as  to  the  growth  and  reliability  of 
his  trees,  shrubs,  and  plants,  has  given 
general  satisfaction  to  the  public.  His 
depot  of  sale  is  106  California  Market. 


CATALOGUES  RECEIVED. 

From  D.  M.  Ferry  &  Co.  Detroit: 
"  Descriptive  Seed  Annual  for  1875." 
Certainly  one  of  the  handsomest  cata- 
logues in  the  United  States.  It  con- 
tains a  beautiful  colored  engraving  of 
their  Peerless  Water-melon,  and  also  a 
splendid  colored  plate  of  the  Emperor 
William  Pansy,  a  celebrated  new  vari- 


194 


THE    CALLFOKNIA    HOETICTJLTUEIST. 


ety  of  the  most  brilliant  indigo  blue' 
shaded  and  penciled  with  black  in  the 
centre,  with  a  white  and  yellow  eye. 
The  flowers  are  of  immense  size,  most 
perfect  form,  very  freely  produced.  It 
is  one  of  the  finest  Pansies  yet  intro- 
duced. 

From  "William  Eennie,  Toronto,  Ont., 
Canada:  ' '  Descriptive  Seed  Catalogue 
for  1875,  of  Field,  Garden,  and  Flower 
Seeds."  Chiefly  vegetable  seeds,  with 
some  flower  seeds,  with  neat  plates  of 
both,  but  mostly  of  vegetables. 

From  George  F.  Sylvester:  *'  Annual 
Catalogue  for  1875,  of  Garden,  Flow- 
er, Tree,  Agricultural,  and  Herb  Seeds." 
317  Washington  Street,  between  Bat- 
tery and  Front,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

From  J.  M.  Thorburn  &  Co.:  "An- 
nual Descriptive  Catalogue  for  1875,  of 
Vegetable  and  Agricultural  Seeds;  al- 
so, of  Flower  Seeds,  Beautiful  French 
Hybrid  Gladiolus,  and  other  Bulbs." 
No.  15  John  Street,  N.  Y. 

From  WTilliam  Bull:  "  A  Betail  List 
for  1875,  of  Select  Flower,  Vegetable, 
Agricultural  Seeds,  and  New  Plants." 
King's  Boad,  Chelsea,  London,  S.  W. 
This  is  the  leading  firm  in  England. 


NEW  AND  RARE  PLANTS. 

Crisped  Pelargonium,  Queen  Vic- 
toria.— As  our  readers  know  by  this 
time,  our  botanists  are  unable  to  find 
any  valid  distinction  between  that  class 
known  in  old  times  as  the  Horse-shoe  or 
Fish  Geraniums  and  the  old  Pelargoni- 
ums that  were  once  the  glory  of  every 
early  summer  show.  They  are  all  now 
Pelargoniums,  and  the  other  class  in- 
stead of  being  bedding  Geraniums  are 
"Zonal"  Pelargoniums  —  though  large 
numbers  have  no  "zones"  or  "horse- 
shoes" on  their  leaves.  There  is  no 
blame  to  botanists — they  have  to  follow 
the  truth  in  all  cases,  no  matter  what 


temporary  inconvenience  may  be  caused 
thereby.  Yet  it  was  so  nice  in  practice 
to  distinguish  the  two  great  classes  in 
that  way.  We  now  have  to  explain  al- 
ways what  we  mean  by  a  "Pelargoni- 
um." Those  we  refer  to  to-day  are 
not  of  the  old  scarlet  "Fish"  or  "Zo- 
nal" class,  but  of  the  "other."  It 
promises  to  be  of  great  interest  as  the 
founder  of  a  new  race  of  that  class.  Mr. 
Chitty,  of  the  Bellevue  Nurseries,  thus 
describes  it : 

( 'This  magnificent  Pelargonium  repre- 
sents a  new  type  of  this  valuable  flower 
known  as,  the  frilled  or  crimped  -  edge 
type.  To  say  that  this  variety  is  hand- 
some conveys  but  a  faint  idea  of  its  mar- 
velous beauty.  The  flowers  are  not 
double,  but  from  the  peculiar  crispy 
petals,  their  extra  number,  and  great 
fullness  of  form,  have  the  appearance  of 
being  so.  The  color  is  a  rich  vermilion, 
all  the  petals  being  broadly  margined 
with  pure  white,  and  the  upper  ones 
blotched  with  maroon;  the  flowers  are 
produced  in  immense  trusses;  the  plants 
flower  quite  small  and  continue  long  in 
flower.  This  is  the  most  valuable  mar- 
ket variety  ever  introduced,  as  it  is  also 
one  of  the  very  best  for  general  decora- 
tive purposes. " — Gardener's  Monthly. 


NEW  FRUITS. 


The  Peerless  Water-melon,  from 
D.  M.  Ferry  &  Co.,  at  Detroit,  Michi- 
gan, is  considered  one  of  the  best  Water- 
melons known  Messrs.  Ferry  &  Co. 
consider  this  Melon  unquestionably  the 
finest  in  cultivation,  and  that  it  will 
probably  supersede  all  others.  The 
Casaba  and  Improved  Nutmeg  are 
among  the  best  of  the  Musk  varieties. 


A  mulch  of  well-rotted  manure  is  in- 
valuable for  plants  at  this  season. 


THE    CALLEOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


195 


CULTIVATION  OF  FRUIT  AND  ITS  PRO- 
TECTION, AND  REPORT  ON  THE  FRUIT 
AND  VEGETABLE  MARKET. 


BY   E.    J.    HOOPEB. 


Tear  by  year  in  California,  and  in- 
deed in  all  the  States,  the  forests  are 
being  stripped  off,  exposing  the  hills, 
mountains,  valleys,  and  plains  more  and 
more  to  the  fierce  winds  of  winter,  and 
in  California,  in  summer,  to  the 
powerful  westerly  trade-winds;  and  her 
fine  spreading  Oaks,  in  single  trees,  in 
groups,  or  in  groves,  are  being  speedily 
destroyed  for  fuel  and  other  uses. 

One  of  the  things  we  most  need  in 
this  State  is  shelter,  independently  of 
trees  for  fuel  and  manufacturing  pur- 
poses. And  this  can  readily  be  accom- 
plished in  a  short  time  by  the  planting 
of  deciduous  and  evergreen  trees,  es- 
pecially the  latter.  While  deciduous 
trees  answer  a  good  purpose  for  protec- 
tion from  winds  in  summer,  evergreens, 
besides  forming  a  good  shelter,  have  the 
additional  advantage  in  all  seasons  of 
the  year  of  affording  a  delightful  spec- 
tacle to  the  eye.  The  Monterey  Cypress 
and  the  Eucalyptus  are  admirably  adapt- 
ed for  this  purpose,  independent  of  the 
last  tree  furnishing  useful  wood  for  sev- 
eral economical  uses;  and  if  a  single 
screen  of  the  Cypress  is  not  sufficient, 
then  double  belts  of  trees  may  be  form- 
ed, by  planting  Eucalypti  and  Austra- 
lian Acacias,  as  well.  When  trees  are 
planted  in  belts  or  hedge-rows,  ever- 
greens of  many  varieties  will  be  -found 
preferable.  Besides  those  we  have 
named,  Norway  Spruce,  Scotch  Pine, 
Norway  Pine,  American  Arborvitse,  and 
American  Spruce  may  be  used.  The 
Scotch  Larch,  though  not  an  evergreen, 
is  a  rapid  grower,  and  will  soon  make  a 
tree  of  considerable  height.  The  red 
Cedar  is  also  pretty  good  to  mix  in  with 
the  above-named  sorts,  though  it  is  not 


a  rapid  grower.  The  Hemlock,  which 
is  liable  to  injury  when  exposed,  will  do 
pretty  well  when  planted  in  belts  with 
other  evergreen  trees.  The  White  Pine 
will  bear  the  pruning-hook  and  shears 
well,  and  the  trees  which  have-  attained 
too  great  height  may  be  headed  in.  The 
Norway .  Spruce  can  be  treated  in  the 
same  way,  and  can  be  profitably  employ- 
ed for  hedges  of  ordinary  size.  Objec- 
tions are  raised  against  thus  planting 
trees  about  fields  and  orchards,  to  the 
effect  that  no  crops  can  be  raised  in  the 
shade  of  such  timber;  that  fruit-trees 
can  not  be  planted  near  them,  that  even 
on  the  exposed  or  sunny  side  the  roots 
extend  into  the  ground  and  exhaust  the 
soil;  and  that  ordinary  field  crops  would 
suffer.  We  can  not  deny  that  this 
would  be  true  to  some  extent,  though 
not  so  far  as  may  appear  at  first  glance; 
but  as  the  good  far  outweighs  the  evil, 
it  should  still  be  done. 

There  are  other  advantages  besides 
shelter  to  gardens  and  orchards,  and 
protection  to  buildings.  Every  man  so 
planting  will  add  very  much  to  the  val- 
ue of  his  place  by  the  additional  beauty 
it  receives  from  such  groves  and  belts 
of  trees.  He  is  also  raising  wood  and 
timber  that  will  sometime  be  of  great 
value  when  wood  and  timber  become 
scarce  and  dear. 

Horticultural  and  agricultural  socie- 
ties, as  well  as  the  Government,  should 
offer  liberal  premiums  to  those  who  set 
out  or  raise  from  seed  such  groves  or 
belts  of  trees,  whether  deciduous  or  ev- 
ergreen. Every  sensible  man  in  the 
country  mourns  over  the  sad  havoc  that 
has  been  made  by  thoughtless  men  of. 
the  past  or  present  generation,  who 
have  so  ruthlessly  destroyed  the  native 
growths  of  all  kinds  of  timber.  Let  ev- 
ery thinking,  careful  man  see  what  he 
can  do  to  restore  these  trees,  or  at  least 
furnish    proper    shelter    to    his     own 


196 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


grounds,  and,  indirectly,  the  grounds 
and  fruit -orchards  of  his  neighbors. 
Plant  liberally,  and  take  good  care  of 
the  trees  until  they  get  well  established, 
and  they  will  soon  gladden  the  eye  of 
the  owner,  and  accomplish  the  object 
for  which  they  are  designed. 

"When  we  lately  visited  San  Leandro, 
a  little  beyond  Oakland,  we  had  the 
pleasure  to  see  on  Mr.  Ford's  place  there 
some  extensive  fine  and  beautiful  screens 
of  the  Monterey  Cypress  and  some  oth- 
er "suitable  evergreens,  as  well  as  many 
of  the  larger  timber-trees,  flourishing  in 
great  perfection,  and  forming  a  capital 
shelter  for  his  large  orchards  of  variotis 
kinds  of  fruit.  Mr.  Ford  has  raised 
them  all  from  the  seed  at  a  small  ex- 
pense, and  no  doubt  he  is  amply  repaid 
for  his  outlay  and  trouble  of  planting, 
care  of  them,  etc. 

About  the  10th  of  last  month  (May) 
Apricots  were  in  season,  though  neither 
ripe  nor  cheap,  50  cents  per  pound  being 
asked  for  the  few  that  were  offered. 
Gooseberries  were  then  selling  at  5c. 
and  10c.  per  pound,  but  the  demand 
was  very  limited.  Cherries  increased 
in  supply,  but  were  mostly  of  inferior 
character.  There  has  been  no  season 
when  so  many  poor  Cherries  and  Straw- 
berries, early  in  the  season,  were  offer- 
ed for  sale.  Tartarian,  May  Duke,  and 
Governor  "Wood  were  the  principal  va- 
rieties of  Cherries  then  in  season.  Tar- 
tarian ranged  from  35c.  to  50c.  per  lb., 
and  May  Duke  and  Governor  Wood 
at  from  25c.  to  35c. 

On  the  15th  of  May  no  important 
shipments  of  Tomatoes  had  been  receiv- 
ed and  prices  were  very  high.  New 
Potatoes  were  more  plentiful,  but  the 
prices  were  kept  up.  An  important  re- 
duction had  taken  place  in  the  price  of 
Onions,  in  consequence  of  free  arrivals 
of  new.  The  supply  of  Cherries  was 
daily  increasing,  and  prices  were  stead- 


ily giving  way.  Strawberries  became 
very  plentiful  about  the  latter  part  of 
May,  and  much  cheaper.  No  prime  lot 
of  Apricots  had  yet  been  received, 
though  several  consignments,  partly 
ripe,  were  sent  forward.  The  indica- 
tions were  that  there  would  be  a  fair 
abundance  of  all  kinds  of  late  fruit,  at 
least,  notwithstanding  the  reported  dam- 
age by  the  April  frosts.  It  is  becoming 
more  and  more  evident  that  the  injury 
was  greatly  exaggerated. 

The  first  ripe  Currants  and  Raspber- 
ries made  their  appearance  about  the 
last  week  in  May.  The  former  sold  at 
25c.  and  the  latter  at  40c.  to  50c.  per 
lb.  Apricots  were  a  little  more  plenti- 
ful, but  came  forward  rather  slowly,  and 
were  generally  very  small  and  tolerably 
juicy.  The  supply  of  Strawberries  was 
.much  lighter  than  is  usual  at  this  sea- 
son, and  the  crop  now  appears  to  be 
somewhat  deficient.  The  prices  will  be 
no  doubt  lower  when  the  fruit  becomes 
more  abundant. 

The  last  shipment  of  California  Or- 
anges has  probably  been  received,  and 
the  dependence  of  the  trade  in  this  fruit 
must  henceforward,  this  season,  be  up- 
on the  Tahiti  variety.  California  Lem- 
ons were  still  in  fair  supply,  and  will 
continue  to  come  forward  a  month  or 
two  longer. 

Some  English  Gooseberries  appeared 
in  the  stalls  about  the  middle  of  last 
month,  and  retailed  at  12^c.  per  lb.; 
common  kinds,  as  the  Houghton,  com- 
manded no  more  than  5c.  Cherries 
were  abundant,  but  they  do  not  cheap- 
en as  rapidly  as  might  be  expected. 

Cucumbers  grown  in  the  open  air  are 
beginning  to  come  in,  and  sell  at  $1  to 
$1  50  per  dozen.  Some  grown  in  hot- 
houses command  $2  a  dozen  by  whole- 
sale, but  retailers  do  not  keep  many  on 
hand  —  only  enough  to  fill  orders  at 
about  30c.  apiece.     Strawberries  come 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUBIST. 


197 


into  the  city  at  the  rate  of  two  and  a 
half  tons  daily,  and  as  a  consequence 
they  are  cheap — selling  at  the  stands  at 
10c.  to  25c.  a  pound  by  weight,  and  at 
40c.    to   50c.    per  4-pound  drawer  for 
fresh;  and  where  they  have  been  in  for 
a  day,  peddlers  sell  the  fruit  as  low  as 
30c.  a  drawer.     Cherries  are  plentiful, 
but  the  condition  of  most  of  them  is  not 
first-rate.     The    best  retail   at  50c.    a 
pound,  and  common,  can  be  bought  as 
low  as  12Jc.     Currants  are  so  green  as 
to  be  unsalable.     Gooseberries,  8c.  to 
15c.  a  pound,  the  latter  figure  for  En- 
glish, which  are  fairly  ripe.     Apricots 
are  an  addition  to  the  fruit  market,  but 
are  unripe,  and  being  held  at  50c.    a 
pound,  market  men  find  but  little  sale 
for  them.      Oranges,   Pineapples,   and 
Bananas    are    unchanged.       Mangoes, 
three  for  a  quarter.     The  price  of  Cali- 
fornia  Oranges  ranges  from  50c.  to  a 
dollar  per  dozen.     Tahiti  Oranges  are 
not  in  the  best  condition,  and  can  be 
had  for  50c.  a  dozen,  and  even  lower. 
Pears  have  nearly  disappeared,  though 
a  few  might  yet  be  found.     Apples  have 
advanced  in  price,  good  to  choice  sell- 
ing readily  at   8c.   to   15c.    a  pound. 
Early  fruits  will  be  somewhat  backward 
this  year  on  account  of  cold  weather 
and  frosts  that  came  on  some  months 
ago.     With  the  exception  of  Apricots, 
however,  it  is  anticipated  the  yield  of 
most  kinds  will  be  as  great  as  last  year. 
The  crop  of  Strawberries  shows  signs 
of  weakening  already.      The  supply  is 
smaller  and  the  quality  inferior  to  past 
years.     The  frost  played  sad  havoc  with 
the  crop  in  the  early  stages  of  its  growth. 
It  is  expected  that  there  will  be  a  great 
improvement  in  the   condition  of  the 
second  crop.      It  is  to   be  hoped  so, 
otherwise  this  delicious  fruit  will  lose 
much  of  its  legitimate  popularity.    Cher- 
ries do  not  promise  to  be  very  cheap 
this  season.     The  supply  is  very  mod- 


erate, and  the  high  price  asked  for 
good  descriptions  keeps  the  demand 
within  reasonable  bounds.  Tartarian 
are  still  selling  at  35c.  to  50c.  per  lb.; 
and  other  kinds  at  from  15c.  to  30c. 
There  is  a  fair  supply  of  Apricots,  and 
prices  are  now  down  to  12^c.  @  30c. 
Easpberries  are  unchanged  at  50c.  per 
short  pound  baskets,  and  Currants  range 
from  15c.  to  20c.  Half-grown  English 
Gooseberries  retail  at  12Jc,  and  com- 
mon at  5c.  New  Astrachan  Apples  are 
now  in  the  market,  and  are  quoted  at 
8c.  to  10c.  per  lb.  Tropical  and  semi- 
tropical  fruit  is  selling  at  the  usual  fig- 
ures. 

The  first  Blackberries  of  the  new  crop 
were  received  recently  from  Alameda. 
The  variety  is  the  Aughinbaugh,  and  is 
the  earliest  known.  The  shipper  says 
he  could  have  had  them  in  market 
twenty  days  earlier  but  for  the  April 
frost.  Another  small  lot  arrived,  and 
brought  $1  per  lb.  A  few  wild  Black- 
berries have  also  come  to  hand,  and 
sell  for  50c.  per  lb.  Green  Apples  and 
Madeline  Pears  are  plentiful,  the  for- 
mer at  $1.25  to  $1.50,  and  the  latter  at 
$1.50  to  $1.75  per  basket.  The  Straw- 
berry crop  is  turning  out  to  be  very 
short. 

A  few  varieties  of  fruit  were  added  to 
the  market  the  first  week  in  June — Ap- 
ples, Pears,  and  Peaches — but  none  of 
them  were  ripe.  Such  as  they  were, 
however,  they  brought  extremely  high 
prices,  the  first  Peaches  selling  at  two 
bits  apiece.  About  June  the  4th  they 
were  all  cheaper;  Peaches  (fairly  ripe), 
40c.  to  50c,  per  lb.;  Pears,  green,  at  6c. 
to  8c;  and  green  Apples,  4c.  to  6c. 
Ked  Astrachan  Apples  were  received 
and  sold  yesterday  at  6c.  to  8c.  Black- 
berries were  beginning  to  come  in  more 
plentifully,  and  Lawtons  were  selling 
at  30c.  to  35c. ;  and  the  choicest  from 
across  the  bay  at  50c.  per  lb.     The  old 


198 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


crop  of  Strawberries  made  a  poor  ap- 
pearance, but  sold  at  quite  an  advance 
over  the  last  week,  from  15c.  to  20c. 
per  lb. ;  second  crop  were  in  better  con- 
dition and  brought  25c. ;  the  few  Chile 
Strawberries  that  came  in  commanded 
50c.  to  60c.  Raspberries  now  sell  at 
35c.  per  basket.  Cherries  and  Goose- 
berries were  unchanged.  Currants  were 
8c.  per  lb. ,  a  heavy  decline  since  the 
week  before  last,  when  they  sold  at  20c. ; 
the  quality  has  improved  at  the  same 
time.  Apricots  of  the  common  kind 
were  cheap  enough  for  anybody,  and 
could  be  had  as  low  as  6c.  per  lb.  The 
better  kinds  of  Royals  and  Moorparks 
were  higher,  and  could  not  be  had  for 
less  than  20c. 


Forests  and  Rain -fall. — As  we  have 
given  what  purports  to  be  positive  and 
exact  figures  that  there  is  no  influence 
on  the  general  climate  by  trees,  it  is 
but  fair  that  we  give  the  positive  and 
exact  figures  on  the  other  side.  Here 
are  some: 

MM.  Fautrat  and  Sartiaux  have  late- 
ly presented  to  the  French  Academy 
the  results  of  certain  experiments  to 
test  the  disputed  question  whether  for- 
ests increase  or  diminish  the  rain-fall. 
Over  the  centre  of  the  Halette  Forest 
they  fixed  the  pluviometer,  psychrome- 
ter,  etc.;  a  similar  set  of  instruments 
under  similar  conditions  being  placed 
above  clear  ground,  300  metres  distant. 
Between  February  and  July  the  total 
rain-fall  above  the  forest  was  192  mm. , 
above  the  clear  ground  177  mm.,  or 
15.5  mm.  in  favor  of  the  forest.  As  re- 
gards degree  of  saturation,  the  psychro- 
meter  above  the  forest  showed  an  ex- 
cess of  1.3  per  cent,  over  the  other; 
thus  confirming  their  conclusion  that 
forests  are  vast  apparatuses  of  conden- 
sation." 


(MitMM  <BJ*»ttfa0i0. 


A  EOSE  OP  THE  GARDEN. 

A  beauteous  Eose  was  once  my  special  care, 
In  favored  nook  'twas  nursed;  there,  as  it 

grew, 
I  watched  its  op'ning  beauties  come  to  view; 

And  its  sweet  fragrance  filled  the  grateful  air. 

The  friendly  foliage  lent  an  added  charm, 
For  beauties,  half  concealed,  are   thus  en- 
hanced, 
And  through  the  flutt'ring  leaves  the  sun  but 
glanced, 
So  now  I  thought  my  treasure  safe  from  harm. 

But  ah!  I  had  not  counted  all  the  foes 
That  blight  a  budding  life,  and  so  my  Eose, 
Though  sheltered  from  rude  blasts  and  scorch- 
ing rays, 
Was  plucked  by  a  cruel  hand  ere  half  its  days 
Were  numbered,   like    some  human    flow 'ret 

doomed 
To  die  neglected,  when  it  scarce  had  bloomed. 
—  Victoria  Magazine. 


Choice  Pelargoniums  for  Winter 
Bloom. — The  habits  of  some  of  the 
Zonal  Pelargoniums  are  admirable  for 
winter  blooming,  and  the  varieties  to 
be  chosen  for  this  purpose  are  such  as 
generally  bloom  the  most  freely.  I  al- 
ways choose  for  myself  those  of  a  dwarf 
habit  in  preference  to  others,  and  can 
recommend  them  as  best  adapted  for 
room  and  greenhouse  culture.  Among 
the  best  varieties,  I  would  name  among 
others  equally  suitable,  the  following, 
namely — Dwarf  Glow,  a  bright  scarlet 
and  a  very  fine  bloomer,  literally  cover- 
ing itself  with  showy  puffs  of  brilliant 
flowers;  Vulcan,  another  scarlet  of  fine 
habits,  and  grown  in  trusses.  Then  I 
have  grown  with  much  satisfaction  Ve- 
suvius, a  red  rich  scarlet.  It  is  a  dwarf 
among  the  dwarfs,  blooming  freely, 
and  very  easily  cultivated.  Then  we 
have  the  old  and  well  known  Peony, 
whose  rich  salmon,  shaded  with  pink, 
every  one  admires.    This  you  will  be 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


199 


sure  to  place  in  your  window-box,  as  it 
will  almost  take  care  of  itself.  Add 
two  fine  plants  of  pure  white  —  the 
Bride  and  the  White  Swan — and  you 
will  have  all  the  whites  that  you  need. 
These  two,  I  think,  can  not  be  sur- 
passed for  in-door  bloomers,  and,  pos- 
sessing all  requisites  of  good,  hardy 
flowers,  you  may  have  confidence  in 
them.  There  are  others  we  have  seen 
well  adapted  for  the  purpose  of  window- 
gardening  and  room-culture,  but  we 
trust  the  above  selection  will  give  the 
best  satisfaction  to  our  lady  gardeners, 
and  having  proved  them  ourselves  we 
know  whereof  we  speak. 


The  Best  Wat  of  Pruning  Standard 
Boses. — A  very  successful  Bose  cultu- 
rist  says  that  in  pruning  standard  Bo- 
ses every   shoot   of    last   year's  wood 
should  be  shortened  to  three  or  four 
buds.     If  not  pruned  in  this   severe 
manner,  the   head  will   become  strag- 
gling, the  shoots  weakly,  and  the  flow- 
ers small.      Only  as   many  shortened 
shoots  should  be  left  for  blooming  as 
will  keep  the  head  properly  supplied 
without    crowding;    bearing  in    mind 
that  each  of  the  three  or  four  buds  left 
will  produce  a  shoot.     Attention  must 
also  be  paid  to  have  the  head  properly 
balanced.     Where  the  head  of  a  stand- 
ard has  been  improperly  treated,  and, 
in  consequence,  the  shoots  of  several 
years,  now  old  wood,  are  too  extended, 
then  cut  the   shoots  of  the  old   wood 
back  to  within  a  few  inches  of  their  ori- 
gin, and   so  form   a   new  head.     The 
portion  of  old  wood  retained  will  push 
shoots,  which  generally  bloom  the  fol- 
lowing season;  and  if  they  should  not, 
they  will  not  fail  to  do  so  every  subse- 
quent one,  if  properly  treated.     Severe 
but  judicious  pruning  is   essential    to 
secure  success  in  blooming  the  Bose. 


An  annual  manure  dressing  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  bed  should  be  given,  to  be 
washed  in  by  the  rains  of  winter  and 
spring. 

Tree-planting.  —  Mr.  Hodges,  super- 
intendent  of  tree-planting    in  Minne- 
sota, has  presented  a  forcible  argument 
for  encouraging  the  planting  of  trees 
by  picturing  the  condition  of  Minnesota 
twenty-five  years  hence  if  some  meas- 
ures are  not  taken  to  make  the  growth 
of  trees  in  that  State  exceed  the  con- 
sumption of  timber.     In  an  address  to 
the  State  Agricultural  Society,  he  says : 
"  A  million  or  more  of  population,  our 
pineries  exhausted,  the  Big  Woods  well 
thinned  out,  the  Mississippi  drying  up, 
St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis  three  or  four 
hundred  miles  above  the  head  of  steam- 
boat navigation,  the  mercury  forty  de- 
grees below  zero,  and  the  wind  blowing 
a  hurricane,  is  not  the  idle  reverie  of  a 
dreamer."     The  consumption  of  wood 
in  the  State  is  estimated  to  strip  150,000 
acres  annually.     The  St.  Paul  and  Pa- 
cific First  Bailroad  Company  has  plant- 
ed four  million  young  forest-trees,  and 
Mr.  Hodges  says  that  a  section  of  prai- 
rie land  planted  with  forest-trees  will 
within  ten  years  exceed  the  profits  from 
ten  times  as  much  ground  in  Wheat. 
This  estimate  of  profit  is  probably  based 
on  the  expectation  of  great  scarcity  of 
wood,  which,  however,  should  not  oc- 
cur, if  Mr.  Hodges'  double  argument  to 
the  farmers  themselves  and  to    their 
pocket-books  is  accepted  by  any  great 
number  of  them. — Public  Ledger. 


Ampelopsis  VErrcHn.---Mr.  Donald  Gr. 
Mitchell,  in  a  recent  essay  on  rural 
adornment,  gives  very  high  and  just 
praise  to  Ampelopsis  Veitchii,  a  lovely 
new  vine  which  has  come  to  us  from 
Japan,  and  which  is  by  no   means  so 


200 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICULTUBIST. 


well  known  yet  as  its  merits  deserve. 
It  is  smaller  and  of  finer  habit  than  our 
Virginia  Creeper,  clinging  with  much 
greater  tenacity  to  'either  wood,  brick, 
or  stone,  and  carrying  the  greenness  of 
its  foliage  well  into  November.  Even 
then  it  yields  to  the  cold  with  great  re- 
luctance, its  leaves  changing  through  a 
rich  brown  to  a  dark  maroon,  and  drop- 
ping at  last  in  flakes  of  deepest  crimson. 
Were  it  only  an  evergreen,  it  would, 
Mr.  Mitchell  thinks,  more  than  match 
the  Ivy.  The  same  vigorous  creeper  is 
also  prominent  in  the  plant-decorations 
of  Wellesley,  near  Boston.  In  the  lat- 
est volume  of  the  Massachusetts  Horti- 
cultural Society  it  is  said  that  the  unique 
and  picturesque  porter's  lodge,  at  the 
entrance  gateway  to  that  magnificent 
estate,  is  completely  overrun  by  Arape- 
lopsis  Veitchii,  and  the  writer  declares 
that  "this hardy  vine  of  rapid  growth, 
fine  foliage,  and  wonderfully  adhesive 
power  has  perhaps  no  equal."  He  adds 
that ' '  on  some  of  the  trees  it  has  mount- 
ed to  the  highest  branches."  It  is  also 
used  elsewhere  on  the  grounds,  and 
with  noteworthy  effect,  especially  in  the 
draping  of  a  Druidical  arch  of  rude 
stone  with  rock -work  connected. — N. 
Y,  Tribune. 

Crimson  -  flowering  Currant.  —  The 
double-flowering  crimson  Currant  is  an 
elegant  small  shrub  of  easy  culture, 
and,  although  not  so  showy  as  some 
other  kinds,  still  it  is  one  of  those 
plants  that  will  repay  a  close  and  inti- 
mate acquaintance.  The  species  with 
single  flowers,  from  which  the  double 
sort  was  produced,  is  a  native  of  the 
Bocky  Mountains,  in  Oregon  and  in 
Washington  Territory.  The  flowers  are 
produced  in  long  drooping  racemes  or 
clusters,  and  at  a  distance  resemble  a 
bunch  of  our  common  red  Currants 
when  fully  ripe. 


Trees  on  Boundary  Line. — The  New 
York  Court  of  Appeals  not  long  since 
decided  that  a  man  has  no  right  to  the 
fruitgrowing  upon  branches  of  a  tree 
overhanging  his  land  where  the  trunk 
of  the  tree  stands  wholly  upon  the  land 
of  his  neighbor.  But  the  law  regards 
the  overhanging  branches  as  a  nuisance, 
and  they  may  be  removed  as  such;  or 
the  owner  of  the  land  shaded  may 
remove  them  if  he  is  careful  not  to 
commit  any  wanton  or  unnecessary  de- 
struction in  so  doing.  Where  the  trunk 
of  a  tree  stands  on  the  line,  the  owners 
of  the  adjoining  land  have  a  joint  own- 
ership in  the  tree  and  fruit,  and  neither 
one  has  a  right  to  remove  it  without  the 
consent  of  the  other. 


METEOROLOGICAL    RECORD, 

Fob  the  Month  ending  May  31,  1875. 
(Prepared  for  The  Hoeticultdeist  by  Thos.  Tennent, 
Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No. 
423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office) . 

BAEOMETEE. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.08  in. 

do  12m 30.08 

do  3p.-m 30.07 

do  6  P.  M 30.07 

Highest  point  on  the  10th,  at  9  a.  m 30.25 

Lowest  point  on  the  7th,  at  9  a.  m 29.95 

THEEMOMETEE. 
(  With  north  exposure  and  free  from  reflected  heat.) 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 62° 

do  12  m 66° 

do  3  p.  m 65° 

do  6  p.  m 61° 

Highest  point  on  the  the  24th,  at  12  m 74c 

Lowest  point  on  the  20th,  at  6  p.  m 55° 

SELF  -  EEGISTEEING    THEEMOMETEE. 

Mean  height  during  the  night 49° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  24th 54° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  1st 45° 

WINDS. 

North  and  north-east  on  5  days ;  north-west  and  west 
on  25  days;  south-west  on  1  day. 

WEATHEE. 
Clear  on  26  days;  cloudy  on  3  days;  variable  on  2  days; 
rain  on  2  days. 

EAIN   GAUGE. 

7th I 0.07 

14th 0.04 

Total  Rain  of  the  season  to  date 17.39 


THE 


AND   FLORAL  MAGAZINE. 


Vol.  V. 


SAN  FBANCISCO,  JULY,   1875. 


No.  7. 


COEEEA. 


BY   F.    A.    MILLEB. 


It  is  somewhat  astonishing  that  this 
flowering  shrub  is  not  better  known  on 
this  coast.  It  is  very  rarely  met  with, 
and  I  do  not  know  of  a  specimen  in  any 
private  collection. 

Correa  alba,  a  white  flowering  variety, 
has  been  cultivated  at  "Woodward's 
Gardens  in  this  city  for  a  number  of 
years,  but  even  this  variety  I  have  nev- 
er met  anywhere  else,  and  surely  it  de- 
serves cultivation.  There  are  other  va- 
rieties which  are  much  handsomer  than 
C.  alba.  The  latter  is  treated  as  a 
greenhouse  shrub  at  Woodward's  Gar- 
dens, and  is  always  in  bloom,  in  sum- 
mer as  well  as  in  winter.  "We  ought  to 
give  it  a  trial  in  our  gardens.  I  am 
convinced  that  some  of  the  varieties  are 
perfectly  hardy  here,  and  if  they  are, 
they  would  be  welcomed  in  every  gar- 
den of  any  pretensions. 

Correa  cardinalis  is  a  native  of  Aus- 
tralia; produces  pendulous  bell-shaped 
flowers  of  a  bright  scarlet. 

G.  rubra  is  another  Australian  spe- 
cies of  great  beauty;  its  pretty  red  flow- 
ers are  produced  in  great  abundance. 

There  are  now  a  dozen  or  so  of  other 

Vol.  V.— 23. 


varieties  under  cultivation,  all  of  which 
are  spoken  of  as  fine  flowering  shrubs 
of  excellent  habit.  The  peculiar  char- 
acter of  the  wood  of  the  Correas  makes 
their  propagation  somewhat  difficult,  and 
this  may  account  partly  for  the  tardi- 
ness in  their  introduction  by  our  nur- 
serymen. However,  I  think  that  Cor- 
rea alba  is  easier  propagated  than  the 
other  varieties,  and  may  be  used  as 
stock  upon  which  the  finer  and  rarer 
varieties  may  be  grafted  or  inarched. 

Certainly  we  expect  to  give  these,  as 
well  as  other  shrubs  heretofore  unknown 
to  this  coast,  a  fair  trial  during  the  com- 
ing season,  and  we  expect  to  succeed 
with  the  cultivation  of  some  of  them,  at 
least. 

Many  kinds  of  beautiful  shrubs  and 
plants  for  the  greenhouse  as  well  as  for 
the  garden  have  not  yet  made  their  ap- 
pearance here,  and  our  climate  and  oth- 
er conditions  are  in  favor  of  most  of 
them.  We  should  not  be  satisfied  with 
four  or  five  varieties  of  Ericas,  when  a 
good  number  of  more  brilliant  sorts 
may  be  grown  just  as  successfully,  as 
Arborea,  Mediterrania,  etc.  The  same 
I  may  say  of  Epacris,  which  promise 
fairly  to  become  most  favorite  flowering 
shrubs.    In  these  times  of  general  prog- 


202 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICDLTURIST. 


ress,  we  must  keep  pace  with  other  in- 
dustries, and  endeavor  to  make  our  col- 
lection of  plants  as  complete  as  circum- 
stances will  allow.  If  nature  has  favored 
our  coast  with  advantages  not  known  to 
any  other  country,  let  us  make  use  of 
them  in  domesticating  every  plant  which 
promises  to  add  to  the  beauty  of  our 
gardens. 

■«  i  m 

THE  PAP  AW  (ASINNIA  TRILOBA). 

This  is  the  North  American  repre- 
sentative of  a  family  that  embraces  the 
Sour-Sap  of  Jamaica,  the  Chevienoyer 
of  Peru,  the  Sweet-Sap  of  the  East  and 
West  Indies,  and  the  Alligator  Apple 
of  Jamaica.  It  grows  in  western  New 
York  and  southern  Michigan,  which 
may  be  reckoned  its  northern  limits. 
Its  range  west  of  the  Mississippi  I  have 
not  seen  given,  but  I  presume  it  does 
not  extend  farther  than  eastern  Nebras- 
ka and  Kansas.  Loudon  states  it  is  not 
found  in  the  low  maritime  regions  of 
the  Atlantic  States.  On  its  northern 
limits  it  seldom  bears  fruit,  and  its  cul- 
tivation would  not  usually  be  practica- 
ble north  of  40°.  In  southern  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri,  in  West 
Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  I 
would  expect  to  find  its  fruit  develop 
by  cultivation  into  something  valuable. 
"  The  Custard  Apples  of  the  West  In- 
dies," says  Dr.  Gray,  in  his  American 
Pomological  Society  essay,  "give  some 
idea  of  what  might  be  made  of  our  Pa- 
paw,  when  ameliorated  by  cultivation 
and  close  selection  for  several  genera- 
tions." But  listen  to  a  correspondent 
of  the  American  Journal  of  Horticulture, 
as  to  what  is  actually  attained  in  the 
wild  state  by  this  fruit: 

"  From  one  to  seven  fruits  in  a  clus- 
ter, each  measuring  four,  five,  six,  or 
even  seven  inches  in  length,  and  from 
two  to  three  inches  in  diameter,  and 


very  like  a  Banana  in  shape,  depending 
(in  their  ripened  state)  from  a  leafless 
branch,  so  small  that  its  burden  sur- 
prises you;  of  the  most  delicate  imagin- 
able shade  of  green,  with  a  bloom  as 
sensitive  as  that  upon  a  white  Grape  or 
Plum;  as  yellow  within  as  the  richest 
of  cream,  and  softer  than  the  ripest  of 
Peaches;  with  a  fruit  odor  that  leads 
you  as  true,  if  not  as  far,  as  a  blossom- 
ing Orange-tree;  with  a  flavor  which,  if 
it  were  not  aU  its  own,  you  would  liken 
to  nectar,  to  ambrosia,  to  your  highest 
ideal  in  the  realm  of  taste — this  is  the 
Papaw." 

Charlevoix,  writing  from  Kaskasquias, 
October  20,  1721,  gives  the  earliest  de- 
scription I  have  seen  of  this  fruit:  "The 
Acimine  is  a  fruit  of  the  length  of  a 
man's  finger,  and  an  inch  in  diameter. 
Its  pulp  is  tender  and  sweetish,  and  full 
of  a  seed  much  resembling  that  of  the 
Watermelon.  The  tree  grows  to  no 
great  height  or  thickness,  all  those  that 
I  have  seen  being  nothing  but  shrubs, 
the  wood  of  which  is  very  tender:  its 
leaves  long  and  large,  like  those  of  the 
Chestnut,  but  of  a  deeper  green."  The 
description  is  not  very  accurate,  con- 
sidering that  the  Pere  Charlevoix  was 
in  a  region  where  the  tree  grows  to  the 
height  of  twenty  to  thirty  feet,  and  the  \ 
fruit  to  about  the  size  mentioned  by  the 
authority  just  quoted  from  southern 
Ohio. 

Du  Pratz  in  his  Histoire  de  la  Louis- 
iane,  published  at  Paris  in  1758,  says: 

"  The  Papaws  (Asseminiers)  are  only 
to  be  found  far  up  in  higher  Louisiana. 
These  trees,  it  would  seem,  do  not  love 
heat;  they  do-  not  grow  so  tall  as  the 
Plum-trees;  their  wood  is  very  hard  and 
flexible;  for  the  lower  branches  are 
sometimes  so  loaded  down  with  fruit 
that  they  hang  perpendicularly  down- 
ward; and  if  you  unload  them  of  their 
fruit  in  the  evening,  you  will  find  them 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


203 


next  morning  in  their  natural  erect  po- 
sition. The  fruit  resembles  a  middle- 
sized  Cucumber;  the  pulp  is  very  agree- 
able and  very  wholesome;  but  the  rind, 
which  is  easily  stripped  off,  leaves  on 
the  fingers  so  sharp  an  acid,  that  if  you 
touch  your  eye  -with  them  before  you 
wash  them,  it  will  be  immediately  in- 
flamed and  itch  most  insupportably  for 
twenty-four  hours  after." 

Darley,  in  his  "Louisiana  in  1817," 
mentions  the  Papaw  as  found  at  the 
Opelousas,  so  that  Du  Pratz  could  have 
been  but  partly  right  in  assigning  the  lo- 
cation of  the  plant  to  what  was  then  up- 
per Louisiana,  as  he  seems  to  do. 

As  early  as  1837,  Dr.  J.  O.  Kirtland 
suggested  in  the  first  Geological  Report 
of  Ohio,  that  "it  is  worthy  of  inquiry 
whether  the  Custard  Apple  or  Papaw 
(Asinnia  triloba)  might  not  be  made  to 
break  into  rich  and  palatable  varieties 
by  artificial  means."  Whether  Dr. 
Kirtland,  an  indefatigable  amateur  hor- 
ticulturist, ever  undertook  the  task  I  do 
not  know. 

J.  Gr.  Cooper,  in  a  paper  in  the  Cin- 
cinnati^, I860,  states  that  the  natural 
range  of  the  Papaw  "seems  to  have 
been  entirely  west  of  the  Alleghanies, 
but  it  occurs  in  scattered  localities  east 
of  them,  at  points  where  the  Indians 
are  known  to  have  had  villages,  or 
which  are  likely  to  have  been  cultivated 
by  them.  Such  occur  most  frequently 
to  the  south  of  the  Potomac,  where 
Bartram  tells  us  he  met  with  large 
fields  deserted  or  still  cultivated,  in 
which  several  unusual  trees  were  grow- 
ing." From  this  it  would  seem  that 
either  by  accident  or  design  the  Indians 
began  the  growth  of  this  tree  from 
seeds. 

But  there  is  little  or  no  record  of  at- 
tempts at  cultivating  this  tree  for  its 
fruit,  and,  as  it  disappears  as  settle- 
ment advances,  the  opportunity  for  the 


selection  and  preservation  of  the  best 
wild  sorts  grow  yearly  less  and  less. 
Those  who  have  the  opportunity  should 
give  the  selection  of  the  best  varieties 
early  attention.  In  my  own  observa- 
tion I  find  considerable  differences  in 
size,  quality,  and  time  of  ripening  of  the 
fruit,  and  these  differences  can  be  prof- 
itably used.  I  never  remember  to  have 
seen  a  tree  or  grove  remain  alive  many 
years  in  open  ground,  unshaded  by  oth- 
er trees.  This,  however,  may  not  pre- 
vent the  trees  being  grown  in  open 
ground  from  the  seed.  Meehan,  in 
fact,  in  his  "  Hand  Book  of  Ornamental 
Trees,"  says  that  "to  be  grown  to  per. 
fection  it  should  be  treated  as  a  single 
specimen,  in  rich  soil,  in  an  open  situa- 
tion. Then  the  tree  has  a  very  pretty 
conical  appearance.  In  stony  soil  it  is 
liable  to  throw  up  suckers,  but  these 
are  easily  kept  down.  In  Philadelphia 
it  bears  fruit  freely  in  the  autumn.  The 
largest  specimen  at  Bartram  is  thirty 
feet  high,  and  two  feet  eight  inches  in 
circumference.  There  are  some  very 
healthy,  luxuriant  specimens  in  Mar- 
shall's Garden,  Chester  County,  Penn- 
sylvania. It  is  readily  propagated  from 
suckers  or  seeds." 


CONCERNING  CLIMATE  AND   CALIFOR- 
NIA WEATHER. 

BY    MKTEOBOLOGIST. 

The  remarkable  quantity  of  rain  which 
fell  about  the  middle  of  last  month 
(June)  has  led  us  to  reflect  upon  the 
interesting  subject  of  climate  and  weath- 
er. Though  we  have  a  statement  from 
meteorological  records  that  for  the  last 
twenty -five  years  we  have  had  generally 
every  alternate  year  showers  sometimes 
in  the  month  of  June,  we  have  hardly 
ever  experienced  such  an  amount  of  rain 
as  in  June  of  this  year — the  fall  being 
more  than  half  an  inch  in  this  city. 


204 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUEIST. 


It  would  appear  that  our  climate  is 
undergoing  some  change,  due  probably 
to  the  continually  increasing  cultivation 
of  the  earth  in  the  various  vegetable 
productions;  and  even  the  railroads  and 
telegraph  wires  are  considered  by  many 
to  have  some  influence  in  these  varia- 
tions of  the  climate  and  weather.  Cli- 
mate, however,  is  a  rather  complex  mat- 
ter, and  one  dependent  on  great  vari- 
eties of  conditions.  It  includes  the 
temperature  of  the  air  at  various  times 
and  seasons,  the  range  and  variation  of 
temperature,  the  direction  and  force  of 
the  winds  that  prevail,  the  liability  to 
storm,  the  amount  of  humidity  in  the 
air  at  various  seasons,  the  quantity  of 
cloud,  mist  and  rain,  and  the  varieties 
of  electrical  condition.  These,  to  some 
extent,  affect  and  depend  on  each  other, 
but  all  may  ultimately  be  traced  to  cer- 
tain general  causes  connected  with  phys- 
ical geography.  It  can  be  readily  un- 
derstood that  the  position  and  extent  of 
this  slope,  bordering  on  a  vast  ocean,  its 
ranges  of  mountains  running  near  to 
and  parallel  with  the  coast,  their  eleva- 
tions above  ihe  sea,  and  its  station  in 
latitude,  are  all  causes,  with  many  oth- 
ers, which  have  much  to  do  with  our 
climate  and  weather. 

California  being  on  the  extreme  edge 
of  a  vast  continent  and  a  vast  ocean, 
there  is  inevitably  at  different  times  in 
the  year  a  great  contest  of  opposing 
winds.  One  result  of  opposing  winds 
is,  that  whenever  warm  and  moist  air 
comes  in  contact  with  other  air  colder 
and  not  extremely  dry,  the  mixed  air  is 
unable  to  retain  the  whole  of  the  moist- 
ure in  an  invisible  form,  and  the  water 
contained  becomes  visible  in  fog  and 
mist,  or  falls  in  rain.  Thus  our  shores 
are  often  enveloped  in  fog  or  rain  dur- 
ing or  at  the  commencement  of  the 
south  or  south-west  winds  of  winter, 
spring,  and  summer. 


In  our  warmer  temperate  zone,  but 
more  especially  in  the  tropics,  owing  to 
the  much  higher  temperature  of  the 
earth's  air,  the  quantity  of  water  carried 
up  into  and  held  in  solution  by  the  air 
is  much  greater  than  in  the  cooler  tem- 
perate zones,  and  the  rains  are  propor- 
tionably  heavier. 

Climate  is  greatly  influenced  not  only 
by  the  rain-fall,  but  by  the  proportion 
of  clouds  in  the  atmosphere;  and  not 
only  by  the  amount  of  rain,  but  by  the 
number  of  days  during  the  year  on 
which  it  falls,  the  amount  of  rain  that 
falls  at  a  time,  and  the  mode  of  distri- 
bution. The  general  conditions  of  the 
climate  of  California  are  not  unfavora- 
ble in  these  respects,  and  notwithstand- 
ing that  the  sun  shines  so  much  here, 
and  causes  so  much  dry  weather,  it  is 
probably  not  far  from  the  truth  to  say 
that  there  is  hardly  a  country  where 
each  day  contains  so  fair  a  share  of 
weather  on  which  it  is  safe  and  pleasant 
to  be  exj)osed  out  of  doors,  as  our  own 
slope.  Where  can  be  found  more  unin- 
terrupted sunshine,  and  where  is  there 
less  suffering  from  long-continued  un- 
favorable seasons?  Kain  seldom  falls 
so  heavily  as  to  do  much  mischief;  and 
it  is  only  occasionally  that  we  are  injur- 
ed seriously  from  floods,  even  in  extra- 
ordinary seasons.  Both  animal  and 
vegetable  life  are  very  favorably  influ- 
enced by  our  coast  as  well  as  interior 
climates.  Our  winters  are  delightfully 
mild;  our  summer  heat  is  tenrpered  gen- 
erally by  refreshing  and  brisk  breezes, 
and  our  nights  by  a  cool  temperature. 

The  electrical  condition  of  the  air  is 
an  element  of  climate,  which,  though 
not  measured  very  satisfactorily,  is  too 
important  here,  now,  to  pass  without 
notice.  The  condition  of  the  air,  recog- 
nized by  meteorologists  under  the  term 
ozone,  has  yet,  no  doubt,  to  be  much 
more  explained.     According  to  Profes- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


205 


sor  Tyndall,  ozone  may  be  a  peculiar 
aggregation  of  oxygen  atoms.  Heat 
dissolves  this  union  and  causes  the 
ozone  to  vanish.  However  this  may  be, 
the  air  is  certainly  subject  to  very  sin- 
gular and  important  electrical  changes, 
marked  and  measured  by  the '  methods 
used  to  determine  the  presence  and 
quantity  of  ozone  in  the  atmosphere. 
During  certain  seasons,  and  in  certain 
places,  the  air  is  well  known  to  become 
highly  unfavorable  to  human  constitu- 
tions; or,  in  other  words,  it  so  acts  on 
the  human  frame  as  to  induce  fever  and 
other  diseases,  apparently  without  ref- 
erence to  mechanical  impurities  contain- 
ed in  it.  Assuming  that  this  is  owing 
to  some  determinable  state,  and  com- 
bining observations,  it  would  seem  clear 
that  the  miasmatic  condition  is  general- 
ly accompanied  by  a  peculiar  want  of 
development  of  ozone.  This  may  be 
understood  to  mean  that  the  air  is  then 
in  an  exceptional  electric  state,  within 
the  power  of  observation  to  record.  It 
may  be  said,  we  think,  with  perfect 
truth,  that  this  electrical  condition  is 
quite  uncommon  in  California ;  and 
therein  consists  its  superior  healthful- 
ness  of  climate.  It  seems  to  abound  in 
ozone.  In  California,  the  vicinity  of  the 
ocean,  and  the  constant  freshening  of 
the  air  by  mixture  with  other  air  that 
has  passed  over  a  large  extent  of  ocean, 
seem  favorable  to  life,  while  the  influ- 
ence of  a  large  tract  of  land,  as  in  some 
other  countries,  is  unfavorable.  Elec- 
tric storms  can  hardly  be  said  to  influ- 
ence climate  very  much,  although  they 
are  generally  regarded  as  leaving  the 
atmosphere  in  a  more  healthy  state  than 
before  the  storm,  as  is  experienced  east- 
ward of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

So  many  matters  combining  to  pro- 
duce a  certain  kind  of  cHmate,  it  is 
clear,  as  exemplified  in  California,  that 
even  in  a  small  tract  of  land  there  may 


be  many  differences  in  this  respect,  and 
that  in  a  very  short  distance.  One 
thing,  as  we  hinted  before,  is  pretty 
certain:  climate  may  and  does  change 
by  the  influence  of  man  and  cultivation. 
By  the  drainage  of  land  and  the  remov- 
al of.forests,  groves,  and  trees,  the  con- 
ditions of  a  country  are  so  far  altered 
with  respect  to  its  rain-fall,  and  the 
moisture  .of  the  air,  that  the  tempera- 
ture becomes  permanently  affected. 
This  seems  now  to  be  taking  place  on 
this  coast,  but  time  will  better  deter- 
mine this.  It  is  estimated  at  any  rate 
that  in  this  way  the  mean  annual  tem- 
perature of  England  is  20°  Fahrenheit 
warmer  than  it  was  a  century  since; 
that  the  summer  and  winter  tempera- 
ture are  both  less  extreme,  and  that  the 
rain-fall  is  gradually  but  steadily  di- 
minishing. 

This  view  is  supported  not  only  by 
general  appearance  and  tradition,  but 
by  comparison  of  a  large  number  of  act- 
ual recorded  observations. 


THE    CLEMATIS    AS    AN    OENAMENTAL 
FLOWEE. 


There  is  probably  no  form  of  plant 
life  which  can  be  applied  to  so  many 
beautiful  variations  as  the  running 
vines,  the  various  Honeysuckles  and 
Clematis.  How  attractive  are  they 
when  clustered  around  our  rural  homes. 
How  beautiful  and  lasting  are  the  les- 
sons they  impart.  They  were  created 
for  lessons  of  wisdom  and  instruction. 

In  many  instances  it  may  be  said 
with  truth  that  "  fashion  governs  all 
things  *"  but  plants  we  are  sure  to  leave 
out  of  this  classification.  Tears  ago 
the  Clematis,  or  Virgin's  Bower,  was 
called  the  reigning  belle,  or  fashionable 
flower,  in  all  the  floral  circles  of  Eu- 
rope. Great  prices  were  in  those  days 
esteemed  light  in  exchange  for  the  rich 


206 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


cluster  of  the  old  Jackmannis  with  its 
wreath  of  crimson  blossoms,  or  its  vary- 
ing violet  and  purple;  it  is  indeed  a 
rare  old  plant,  reveling  in  many  quaint 
old  memories  of  the  past.  Among  the 
stories  told  of  the  esteem  in  which  this 
Jackmannis  species  was  held  in  the 
olden  times  we  have  only  to  recall  the 
common  fact,  that  growing  at  the  foot 
of  a  tower  of  Melrose  Abbey  was  a  re- 
markable vine  of  this  plant,  whose 
graceful  tendrils  completely  covered 
the  whole  turret  of  the  tower,  throwing 
far  and  wide  its  fragrance  and  beauty. 
Says  a  pilgrim  from  afar:  "I  rode  many 
miles  to  behold  this  wonderful  plant. 
In  mute  admiration,  I  received  anew  a 
lesson  of  the  wisdom  of  God,  who  mak- 
eth  even  the  Lilies  of  the  field  glorious. 
To  me  this  was  a  floral  treat  never  to  be 
forgotten." 

Carrying  out  the  idea,  how  shall  we 
improve  upon  the  suggestions  of  nat- 
ure, so  as  to  make  more  beautiful  our 
own  surroundings?  First,  we  are  to 
study  the  nature  of  the  plants  we  are  to 
use  in  our  landscape.  The  place  and 
its  face  of  country,  its  capabilities  from 
much  or  little  water,  natural  and  artifi- 
cial. Having  ascertained  just  the  ca- 
pabilities of  our  soil,  we  are  to  consider 
the  nature  of  the  vines  and  plants  we 
are  desirous  of  using  as  ornaments  or 
embellishments  about  our  dwellings. 

The  plants  under  discussion  all  be- 
long in  point  of  scientific  classification 
to  the  Crowfoot  family,  an  order  con- 
taining the  Buttercups,  Peonies,  Anem- 
ones, Columbines,  Larkspurs,  Hepticas, 
Meadowrues,  Monkswood,  and  several 
other  genera.  These  plants  are  either 
herbaceous  or  perennial.  Of  the  her- 
baceous the  tops  live  during  the  season 
and  do  not  die  down.  Of  the  roots  of 
the  perennial  they  live  from  season  to 
season,  or  they  are  what  is  called  pe- 
rennial, or  woody. 


In  these  climbing  vines  their  slender 
leaf -stems  are  like  delicate  fingers,  or 
tendrils,  eagerly  embracing  and  clinging 
for  support  to  the  most  rugged  surfaces. 
Thus  supported  it  is  no  uncommon 
thing  to  see  one  of  these  plants  mak- 
ing its  way  upward  to  a  height  surpris- 
ing in  itself,  while  it  covers  all  space 
around  it  with  glory  and  life.  The  us- 
ing florally  of  this  plant  as  a  garden 
decoration  will  be  found  neither  prosy 
nor  uninteresting,  as  a  few  of  these 
plants  produce  clusters  of  very  fragrant 
small,  white,  sweet  flowers.  They  are 
the  Asiatics  that  throw  out  the  magnifi- 
cent trumpet-shaped  and  gorgeous  flow- 
ers, over  which  the  student  of  nature 
bends  in  rapt  admiration  as  he  carefully 
trains  their  delicate  tendrils  over  the 
most  rugged  aspects.  One  of  the  finest 
places  in  which  to  grow  these  vines  I 
have  found  to  be  a  pile  of  rude  rocks  in 
a  natural  or  wild  state  situated  in  a  re- 
mote part  of  the  grounds.  By  planting 
sundry  shade -trees  on  the  southern 
side,  producing  thereby  a  partial  shade, 
you  have  just  the  situation  for  the  Cle- 
matis-vine. Set  out  your  vines  at  the 
foot  or  side  of  these  rocks — in  the  base 
of  good  rotted  sod,  amid  which  also 
revel  the  Azalea  and  Rhododendron — 
and  train  them  carefully  over  the  sup- 
ports, either  natural  or  applied,  you 
have  provided  for  them. 

Here  you  have  from  which  to  make 
your  choice  the  following — all  of  which 
are  good,  and  I  can  from  trial  recom- 
mend. One  called  John  Gould  Veitch  is 
a  lively,  pleasant  flower,  of  a  lavender 
blue;  of  quite  a  large  size,  blossoms  re- 
maining upon  stalk  a  long  time. 

Lanuginosa  has  a  woody  foliage,  blue 
flowers;  of  this  are  also  to  be  had  fine 
white  blossoms,  and  from  it  many 
fine  shoots  are  obtained,  as  it  breaks 
often  in  new  and  wonderful  revelations. 
Do  not  omit  this  in  your  collection. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


207 


Another  old  favorite  has  reddish  pur- 
ple blossoms,  and  is  called  viticello  veno- 
sa.  This  is  a  light-veined,  beautiful 
and  delicate  plant.  Among  the  numer" 
ous  claimants  for  favor  I  name  one 
from  Florida,  that  has  well  sustained 
its  home  recommendation,  even  in  our 
colder  summers,  and  is  called  Florida 
plena,  very  double,  creamy  white  with  a 
delicate  green  rosette  in  the  centre  of  the 
flower;  it  is  a  slender-growing  vine  and 
needs  looking  to  once  in  three  or  four 
days. 

Lady  Bouville.  Grayish  blue,  fine 
graceful  foliage,  deep  green,  hardy,  ev- 
ery way  desirable.  This  is  one  of  the 
Jackmannis'  seedlings. 

Thomas  Moore.  One  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent of  the  varieties,  very  much  re- 
sembling the  Passion-flower;  it  is  when 
in  flower  a  most  beautiful  sight;  has 
deep  violet  -  colored  flowers  in  great 
masses. 

Two  other  seedlings  from  the  Jack- 
mannis deserve  a  place  in  this  collection, 
for  they  are  all  three  classed  as  hardy 
plants;  once  planted  out  they  need  but 
little  care  except  to  cover  the  roots  with 
fine  manure  in  the  fall,  and  when  spring 
comes  manure  the  same  and  turn  up, 
and  tie  up  the  vines. 

Mrs.  Moore  is  a  plant  of  immense 
proportions;  some  of  the  flowers  are 
from  eight  to  nine  inches  in  diameter, 
and  almost  pure  white  in  color. 

James  Bateman  is  a  new  Clematis  that 
blooms  for  a  succession  of  weeks,  flow- 
ers bright  lilac. 


The  Los  Angeles  Express  thinks  there 
is  little  need  of  irrigation  in  that  section 
except  for  semi-tropical  fruits.  For  all 
other  crops  it  insists  that  deep  plowing 
and  summer  fallowing  are  all  that  is  re- 
quired. A  number  of  facts  are  cited  to 
show  that  for  cereals  and  Grapes  irriga- 
tion is  unnecessary  and  even  injurious. 


CAENIYOKOUS  PLANTS. 

"What's  this  I  hear, 

My  Molly  dear, 
About  the  new  Carnivora? 

Can  little  plants 

Eat  bugs  and  ants, 

And  gnats  and  flies? 

Why,  bless  my  eyes ! 
Who  is  the  great  diskiverer? 

Not  Darwin,  love, 

For  that  would  prove 
A  sort  of  retrograding; 

Surely  the  fare 

Of  flowers  is  air, 

Or  sunshine  sweet; 

They  shouldn't  eat, 
Or  do  aught  so  degrading. 

Alas,  'twould  be 

Sad  news  to  me, 
To  hear  your  own  dear  Fido  pet, 

Had  lost  his  breath 

In  cruel  death, 

Because,  one  day, 

In  thoughtless  play, 
He  went  too  near  a  Violet. 

Or,  horror!  what 

If,  heeding  not, 
Some  cruel  plant  carnivorous, 

"We  ventured  near — 

Yes,  we,  my  dear — 

And  swallowed  were, 

With  no  one  there 
To  succor  or  deliver  us? 

And  yet,  to  die 

By  blossoms,  I 
Would  call  a  doom  chromatic, 

For  one  might  wait 

A  harder  fate 

Than  have  a  Bose 

End  all  his  woes 
In  pain  called  aromatic. 

Ah,  science  knows 

Each  flower  that  blows 
And  all  its  wicked  habits. 

'Tis  not  for  us 

To  make  a  fuss. 

For  aught  we  know, 

The  Lilies  grow 
From  dining  on  Welsh  rabbits ! 

— Scribner'sfor  April. 


208 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


ANGLING    AND  LOVE   OF  FLOWERS  IN 
HARMONY. 


BY   E.    J.    HOOPEE. 


Fishing  and  flowers  may  at  first  sight 
appear  rather  incongruous.  The  two 
penchants  may  seem  to  be  somewhat 
widely  different  at  the  first  glance,  yet 
not  perhaps  so  widely  apart  from  each 
o£her  as  some  may  think;  for,  in  follow- 
ing the  pursuit  of  angling  in  beautiful 
rural  scenes,  trees,  flowering  shrubs, 
and  flowers — Califomian  ones,  too,  and 
in  saying  that  it  is  saying  a  great  deal 
— form  a  large  and  important  share  in 
its  pleasant  and  happy  associations.  In 
these  two  recreations,  also,  may  be  in- 
cluded natural  history,  although  the 
connection  of  hunting  (riding  to  hounds) 
shooting,  and  fishing  with  this  study 
will,  in  general  opinion  probably,  be 
considered  as  equally  remote  and  indi- 
rect. Now,  as  to  the  two  former,  peo- 
ple may  to  a  certain  extent  be  right;  an 
attempt  to  join  either  hunting  (on  horse- 
back) or  shooting  with  natural  history 
in  the  same  way  that  fishing  may  be 
joined  is  perhaps  fairly  open  to  excep- 
tion, as  a  union  of  two  objects  not  of 
themselves  sufficiently  connected.  But 
fishing  to  my  mind  occupies  in  that  re- 
spect an  entirely  different  position.  Not 
only  is  an  accurate  knowledge  of  some 
branches  of  natural  history  essential  to 
him  who  would  excel  in  his  art,  but  all 
the  circumstances  attending  it  —  the 
grandeur  of  the  scenery  into  which  he 
is  naturally  led,  with  all  its  attractive 
accompaniments  of 

"  Streamlets  to  whose  shallow  falls 
Melodious  birds  sing  madrigals" — 

the  soothing  and  thought-awakening  in- 
fluence of  the  waters,  whether  lake  or 
river,  themselves  nature's  store-houses  in 
which  she  locks  up  her  wonders — the 
numberless  and  varied  forms  of  animal 
and  vegetable  life — can  hardly  fail  to 


arrest  his  attention  and  excite  his  inter- 
est; many  of  them,  by  reason  of  the  si- 
lence and  quiet  necessary  for  his  sport, 
being  seen  to  an  especial  advantage. 
The  book  of  nature  is  in  fact  opened 
before  his  eyes — nay,  obtruded  on  his 
notice — written  in  such  distinct  and  in- 
viting characters,  that  he  must  indeed 
be  blind  of  eye  and  dull  of  apprehen- 
sion if  he  does  not,  to  some  extent  at  any 
rate,  attain  to  a  knowledge  and  love  of 
her  language.  How  keen  and  pure,  for 
instance,  is  old  Izaak  Walton's  appreci- 
ation of  nature  for  nature's  self.  There 
is  scarcely  a  page  in  his  whole  famous 
and  interesting  book  which  does  not 
breathe  forth  his  earnest  and  devoted 
love  of  her.  Do  not  his  descriptions 
almost  lead  away  his  readers  in  spite  of 
themselves  from  the  avowed  subject  of 
his  book,  and  incite  them  to  become 
anglers  more  for  the  sake  of  the  acces- 
sories which  he  paints  so  graphically  and 
invitingly — his  "honeysuckle  hedges," 
his  airy  creatures,  his  "  silver  streams  " 
— than  for  the  actual  fishing  ?  I  verily 
believe,  in  fact,  that  he  has  done  as 
much  to  promote  a  genial  and  healthy 
love  of  nature  as  any  man  who  ever 
lived. 

I  was  born  on  the  banks  of  a  lovely 
and  crystal  stream  in  Old  England — the 
New  River — one  of  the  many  streams 
which  supply  London  with  water;  where 
the  happy  days  of  my  childhood  passed 
serenely  away  in  listening  to  its  mur- 
murs, and  gathering  wild-flowers  on  its 
banks;  consequently  the  waters  and  all 
their  varied  tenants  have  ever  since  had 
for  me  peculiar  charms.  In  the  open- 
ing days  of  early  spring,  while  the  field 
Daisy,  the  Buttercup,  and  the  Cowslip 
unfolded  their  modest  petals  to  the  sun, 
I  used  to  listen  with  delighted  ears  to 
the  first  songs  of  the  skylark,  blackbird, 
linnet,  and  thrush.  They  breathed  a 
tale  of  soft  breezes,  of  green  hills,  green 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUEIST. 


209 


fields,  and  rippling  waters;  they  spoke 
eloquently  of  azure  skies  and  sunset 
evenings,  when  the  skimming  swallow, 
the  dace,  and  the  speckled  trout,  sport- 
ing on  the  silvery  stream,  should  con- 
tend for  the  tiny  fly  on  my  slender  cast- 
ing-line. With  a  contemplative  dispo- 
sition and  a  mind  sensitive  to  all  that 
is  beautiful  in  nature,  amid  such  scenes 
as  these  my  early  days  were  spent;  and 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  I  soon 
contracted  habits  in  which  river,  lake, 
and  ocean  inhabitants  bore  a  prominent 
part,  and  angling  became  a  leading  em- 
ployment. 

Upon  the  merits  of  angling  I  need 
hardly  descant.  Every  true  angler 
well  knows  its  charms.  He,  for  the 
most  part,  feels  internally  at  peace  with 
himself,  the  world,  and  all  mankind, 
and  every  object  that  meets  his  view, 
during  his  sport,  seems  to  wear  the 
same  sunny  smile  that  gilds  his  own 
happy  reflections.  He  pities  those  who 
dwell  entirely  in  pent-up  cities,  in  a 
chaos  of  bricks  and  mortar  and  smoke, 
and  fumes  of  many  unsavory  odors,  sur- 
rounded by  the  wearing  cares  of  life, 
and  often  bored  to  desperation  by  that 
demon  whose  imps  are  dollars  and 
cents,  in  an  everlasting  and  ceaseless 
contest  about  the  sale  and  price  of  lots 
and  houses,  taxes,  etc.  To  such,  borne 
down  by  anxiety,  irritation,  and  bursts 
of  ruffled  temper,  the  enjoyment  of  the 
glorious  works  of  the  Creator's  hands — 
green  hills  and  sunny  slopes — are 
scarcely  known.  Let  these  care-worn 
and  sadly  troubled  business  men  rise  up 
at  proper  intervals,  gird  on  their  man- 
tles, and  follow  generally  a  better  and 
healthier  course — become  if  they  will 
initiated  into  the  attractive  mysteries  of 
the  "gentle  art,"  or,  at  least,  imbibe 
such  a  taste  for  rural  entertainment  as 
shall  render  the  country  ever  dear  to 
them  and  their  recollections,  and  make 


the  inordinate  pursuit  of  a  plethoric 
purse  in  various  anxious  speculations  so 
common  on  this  coast,  and  too  much 
coveted  riches,  hideous  and  detestable 
to  them. 

But  suppose,  readers,  we  now  refer 
to  more  of  matter-of-fact  in  this  paper 
-^-more  of  the  practical.  Since  my  last 
article,  mess  after  mess  of  trout  (salmo 
iridia),  and  salmon  {salmo  quinnat,  not 
salmo  salar  as  some  will  have  it),  of  good 
size,  have  fallen  to  the  skill  and  perse- 
verance, in  Lake  Merced,  of  our  friend 
and  prince  of  fishermen  in  these  parts 
— Kaeding — and  his  companions,  and 
other  devoted  anglers,  among  whom  is 
your  servant  the  writer.  These  fish 
have  nearly  all  been  taken  by  bait-fish- 
ing, the  trolling  from  a  boat  becoming 
less  and  less  successful,  it  would  ap- 
pear, as  the  season  advances.  Many 
more  thousands  of  young  trout-fry  (38,- 
000)  and  salmon-fry  (2,000)  have  been 
set  free  in  the  cool  and  pellucid  element 
of  this  lake  by  Mr.  Williamson,  of  the 
Acclimatizing  Society,  to  be  ready,  in 
their  proper  time,  for  furnishing  sport 
to  the  ardent  lovers  of  the  rod  and  line. 
Mr.  W.  will  also  have  ready  half  a  mill- 
ion of  eggs  this  fall.  Lake  San  An- 
dreas, too,  I  understand,  is  not  at  all 
to  be  neglected  in  this  respect. 


AMEEICAN  POMOLOGICAL   SOCIETY. 

The  chairman  of  the  Society  has  ad- 
dressed the  following  letter  to  the  chair- 
men of  the  Fruit  Committees  of  the 
several  States: 

Dear  Sir: — At  the  last  meeting  of  the 
American  Pomological  Society,  held  in 
the  city  of  Boston,  September,  1873, 
you  were  elected  chairman  of  the  Fruit 
Committee  of  your  State.  The  duties  of 
this  committee  are  thus  defined  in  the 
by-laws  of  the  Society : 

"  State  Fruit  Committees,  consisting 


210 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICTJLTUKIST. 


of  five  members  each,  for  every  State, 
Territory,  and  province  represented, 
and  a  general  chairman  over  all,  shall 
be  appointed  biennially;  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  several  State  Fruit  Com- 
mittees to  forward  to  the  general  chair- 
man, one  month  before  every  biennial 
meeting,  State  Pomological  Reports,  to 
be  condensed  by  him  for  publication." 

It  has  been  customary  for  State  Fruit 
Committees  to  appoint  their  associates, 
and  you  are  now  respectfully  requested 
to  organize  your  committee  at  the  earli- 
est moment  practicable,  by  selecting  the 
most  competent  and  trustworthy  per- 
sons, in  different  sections  of  your  State, 
to  aid  in  collecting  information,  which 
you  will  arrange  in  the  form  of  a  report, 
and  transmit  to  me  as  early  as  the  20th 
of  August  next,  if  possible,  that  I  may 
be  able  to  present  the  report  of  the 
General  Fruit  Committee  on  the  open- 
ing of  the  session,  which  is  announced 
to  be  held  in  Chicago,  111.,  on  Septem- 
ber 8th,  9th,  and  10th,  1875. 

The  nature  of  the  information  sought 
for,  in  your  report,  can  be  ascertained 
by  reference  to  the  published  transac- 
tions of  the  Society,  and  may  be  stated 
briefly  as  follows : 

1.  What  species  of  fruit,  as  Apple, 
Pear,  Peach,  Plum,  Cherry,  etc.,  are 
grown  in  your  State  successfully  ? 

2.  What  varieties  of  these  fruits  have 
proved  to  be  best  adapted  to  your  State, 
and  of  the  greatest  value?  The  de- 
grees of  merit  should  be  stated  accord- 
ing to  the  scale  adopted  in  arranging 
the  Society's  catalogue,  viz:  Those 
worthy  of  cultivation  a  *j  those  of  great 
superiority  and  value,  two  *  *;  those 
recently  introduced  and  promising,  a  f. 
In  your  report  under  this  head  you  will 
note  the  changes,  if  any,  that  should  be 
made  in  the  catalogue,  as  it  now  stands, 
for  your  State. 

3.  Synonyms,  or  the  various  names 


under  which  the  same  variety  is  known 
or  cultivated  in  your  State. 

4.  What  insects  and  diseases  are  in- 
jurious to  fruits  and  fruit-trees,  and 
what  remedies  or  preventives  have  been 
successfully  applied? 

5.  The  kinds  of  soil  and  situation 
best  adapted  to  the  different  species  of  • 
fruits.*  The  best  system  of  pruning 
and  training;  cultivation  or  treatment 
of  the  soil  among  fruit-trees;  gathering, 
packing,  keejDing,  and  marketing  fruits, 
and  any  interesting  particulars  on  the 
subject  within  your  reach. 

The  Society  does  not  wish  to  impose 
great  burdens  on  its  committees,  and 
therefore  answers  to  the  4th  and  5th 
series  of  questions  may  be  omitted 
where  circumstances  may  render  it  dif- 
ficult or  impossible  to  give  them. 

Answers  to  1,  2,  and  3  are  necessary 
to  enable  the  Society  to  extend  and  per- 
fect its  work. 

If  you  find  that  you  will  be  unable  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  chairman  of 
your  State  Fruit  Committee,  you  will 
please  notify  me  or  the  president  as 
soon  as  possible  after  the  receipt  of  this 
circular,  and  mention  the  name  of  the 
person,  in  your  judgment,  best  quali- 
fied to  perform  the  service. 

Asking  your  kind  co-operation  in  this 
important  work, 

I  am  truly  yours, 

P.  Barry, 
Chairman  General  Fruit  Committee 
American  Pomological  Society. 

Rochester,  N.  Y.,  April  1,  1875. 


The  leaves  of  Geranium  are  an  ex- 
cellent application  for  cuts,  when  the 
skin  is  rubbed  off,  and  other  wounds  of 
the  same  kind.  One  or  two  leaves  must 
be  bruised  and  applied  on  linen  to  the 
part,  and  the  wound  will  become  cica- 
trized in  a  very  short  time. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


211 


USEFUL,  AND  ESPECIALLY  OENAMENT- 
AL  PLANTING. 


BY   AX   AMATEUB. 


There  are  many  trees  which,  though 
incapable  of  or  unsuitable  for  being 
cultivated  in  California  for  useful  or 
economical  purposes,  for  their  wood  or 
timber,  yet  produce  striking  and  beau- 
tiful effects  in  gardens  or  landscape 
scenery,  and  are  of  especial  value  in  the 
adornment  of  parks  and  pleasure- 
grounds.  Many  of  them  are  to  be 
found  in  our  nurseries,  yet  the  plentiful 
planting  of  them  for  ornamental  effects 
is  very  much  neglected  in  our  State. 
The  beauty  of  English  park  as  well  as 
Eastern  scenery  is  admitted  as  the  con- 
stant source  of  fresh  admiration  to  vis- 
itors and  of  delight  to  every  person, 
and  it  may  be  briefly  described  as  the 
art  of  imitating,  in  a  smaller  compass, 
the  most  lovely  scenes  of  external  nat- 
ure. In  a  pursuit  so  fascinating,  the 
most  elegant  mind  may  find  amuse- 
ment, the  most  active  benevolence  room 
in  which  to  dilate.  In  eliciting  from 
crude  materials  new  forms  of  beauty; 
in  opening  the  valley;  converting  the 
barren  hill-side  into  wood;  in  expanding 
the  lake,  and  clothing  a  once  naked 
district  with  luxuriance,  the  worth  of 
an  estate  is  increased,  health  improved, 
and  charity  the  most  useful  dispensed. 

"Where,  even  in  such  fortunate  and 
happy  valleys  as  Napa  and  Sonoma,  and 
a  few  others  on  this  coast,  the  Oaks 
and  other  native  trees  and  shrubs 
abound,  they  can  not  be  much  improv- 
ed, yet  some  beauties  of  detail  may  be 
gained  by  a  more  frequent  employment 
of  foreign  vegetation,  besides  handsome 
fruit-trees.  Everyone  is  aware  of  the 
charming  effect  of  the  "Weeping  Wil- 
low :  this  is  a  case  in  point.  The  light 
ramifications  of  the  Locust,  or  Austra- 
lian Acacias,  contrast  beautifully  with 


the  bolder  form  of  the  Oaks;  the  Hick- 
ory, or  American  Black  Walnut,  re- 
lieves the  heavy  masses  of  the  Elm;  the 
lucid  green  of  the  Spanish  Chestnut  is 
well  opposed  to  the  dinginess  of  the 
Beech;  and  the  brilliant  tints  of  many 
North  American  trees  when  shedding 
their  leaves  add  a  new  and  remarkable 
feature  to  the  autumnal  landscape.  But 
the  interest  arising  from  the  adoption 
of  those  foreign  trees,  suitable  to  our 
climate  and  soil,  into  domestic  scenery, 
is  not  confined  to  their  picturesque  ef- 
fects. They  remind  us  of  the  climes 
whence  they  come,  of  the  scenes  with 
which  they  were  associated.  In  explor- 
ing a  well-selected  arboretum,  the  eter- 
nal snows  of  the  Himalaya,  the  savan- 
nahs of  the  Missouri,  the  untrodden 
forests  of  Patagonia,  the  valleys  of  Leb- 
anon, pass  in  review  before  us :  we  seem 
to  wander  in  other  climes,  to  converse 
with  other  nations. 

Although  there  are  some  foreign  trees 
that  can  not  become  permanent  with 
us,  even  in  the  accommodating  and 
genial  clime  of  this  slope,  yet  a  great 
number  bear  our  climate  well.  The 
laws  of  nature  forbid  us  to  hope  for  the 
perfect  naturalization  of  some  trees  of 
the  eastern  or  other  climes,  owing  to 
our  long  dry  season  in  summer,  yet 
many  of  them  allow  us  to  embellish  our 
domains  with  the  rich  variety  resulting 
from  the  elegance  of  their  forms  and 
diversity  of  their  tints. 

The  coarse  foliage  of  the  Elm,  in  our 
own  opinion,  degrades  it  from  the  first 
class  of  ornamental  trees,  but  in  some 
situations,  especially  in  deep  and  some- 
what damp  or  irrigated  soils,  it  suc- 
ceeds better  than  many,  and  grows  to  a 
good  size.  Its  varieties  are  curious. 
The  Variegated-leaved  Elm  is  not  with- 
out merit;  the  Weeping  Elm  is  some-, 
times  picturesque  ;  the  small  -  leaved 
Elm  is  perhaps  the  most  elegant.     At 


212 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOBTICULTUKIST. 


any  rate,  the  stupendous  stature  of 
specimens  of  the  Ulmus  Americana 
around  the  neat  villages  of  New  En- 
gland are  very  impressive.  The  Eastern 
Tulip -tree  (Liriodendron  tulipifera)  of 
large  stature,  high  beauty,  and  hardi- 
hood, unites  the  charm  of  abundant 
pale  yellow  flowers,  bearing  some  re- 
semblance to  Tulips,  with  beautiful 
broad  leaves,  of  very  ornamental  form 
and  color.  The  Chinese  and  Japanese 
species  of  conifera  are  among  the  most 
remarkable  characteristics  of  much  of 
their  beautiful  vegetation.  Of  Ever- 
greens, Cupressus  pendula,  or  funebris, 
which  equals  the  Weeping  Willow  in 
the  charms  of  its  pendent  branches,  is 
planted  in  China  and  Japan  to  hang 
over  the  tombs  of  the  departed.  Noth- 
ing can  be  better  in  unison  with  this 
purpose  than  the  dark  and  weeping 
branches  of  this  tree;  but  it  is  hand- 
some in  any  situation,  either  singly,  in 
groups,  or  as  screens  in  single  or  dou- 
ble rows.  Several  species  of  Thuja, 
inhabitants  of  the  same  countries,  are 
great  desiderata.  Among  them  Thuja 
dolabrata  calls  from  us  the  most  earnest 
praises.  It  is  of  evergreens  one  of  the 
fairest.  The  Japanese  forest-trees  are 
now  taking  a  prominent  station  in  dec- 
orating our  pleasure-grounds  and  lawns, 
and  they  ought  to  be  adopted  all  over 
California. 

The  Italian  Cypress  (Cupressus  sem- 
pervirens),  so  conspicuous,  and  so 
beautifully  applied  in  the  terraced  scen- 
ery of  Italian  villas,  will  certainly  at- 
tain its  full  vigor  on  our  naturally  high- 
ly favored  coast.  It  is,  at  any  rate,  es- 
sentially one  of  the  trees  of  architect- 
ural gardens,  and  ought  never  to  be 
forgotten  in  a  country  like  this,  which 
so  well  admits  of  its  application.  A 
tree  nearly  allied  to  it,  but  deciduous 
(Cupressus  disticha)  now  separated  into 
a  distinct  genus,  under  the  name  Taxo- 


dium  distichum,  is  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  ornamental  trees  which  thrive  in 
temperate  climates.  Nothing  can  well 
surpass  the  loveliness  of  its  light  and 
delicate  -  colored  foliage.  It  should, 
however,  have  a  deep  and,  if  possible, 
humid  soil.  When  we  say  that  no 
pleasure-ground  should  be  without  it, 
we  but  faintly  express  our  sense  of  its 
elegance. 

But  this  article  is  not  written  so  much 
to  suggest  what  to  plant,  as  to  urge  the 
principle  of  planting  "what  may  be  de- 
sirable, profitable,  and  ornamental  on 
this  generally  treeless  coast.  The  facts 
and  observations  brought  forward  in 
evidence  of  public  as  well  as  of  pri- 
vate necessity,  for  the  extension  of  for- 
est-tree planting,  and  the  advantages 
accruing  from  it  to  individual  estates, 
need  not  be  here  repeated;  neither  need 
it  be  recalled  to  mind  that  the  perpetual 
consumption  of  timber  from  the  natural 
groves  and  forests  of  California,  with- 
out any  aid  being  afforded  in  return  to 
renovate  or  keep  up  a  succession  of 
trees  by  planting,  will  cause  such  a 
scarcity  of  timber  for  use  and  shade, 
that  we  shall  be  driven  at  last  to  the 
culture  of  trees  as  an  article  of  profit, 
as  they  have  been  compelled  to  do  in 
Europe,  particularly  in  England,  with 
such  perfection  and  so  much  success. 
This  important  object  ought  to  be  for- 
warded with  that  zeal,  energy,  and  skill 
which  have  been  already  displayed  by 
some  few  individuals  here,  and  which 
promises  to  be  attended  with  so  much 
profit  and  benefit. 


A  peominent  commercial  company  in 
Louisiana,  a  branch  of  a  wealthy  En- 
glish company,  has  forwarded  an  order 
to  a  seed  firm  in  this  city  for  a  large 
supply  of  Chinese  tea-seeds  and  plants. 
The  demand  for  Chinese  seeds  and 
plants  is  constantly  increasing  in  the 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


213 


South,  as  it  has  been  demonstrated  that 
they  will  thrive  there.  Orders  have  al- 
so been  received  from  Florida  for  Li- 
tchi,  Lo-quat  and  Wham-pee,  Chinese 
fruit.  The  seed  house  in  question  has 
ordered  500  pounds  of  tea-seeds  and 
1,000  plants  from  China. 


BLACK  BLIGHT  OF  OEANGE  AND  OLIVE. 

BY    DK.    A.    KELLOGG. 

A  friend  says:  "You  were  on  Mr. 
P.'s  place,  or  So-and-so's,  when  south? 
What  do  you  think  is  the  cause  of  black 
blight  and  scale — or  is  it  climatic,  and 
incurable  ?  " 

Queries  of  such  general  scope,  admit 
of  a  reply  upon  general  jDrinciples.  (See 
a  somewhat  empirical  answer  in  a  for- 
mer number).  Individuals  —  men  and 
women — like  their  symbols,  the  trees, 
when  wont  to  become  depraved  and 
enfeebled  by  excesses,  or  any  violations 
of  law,  invite  the  minions  of  the  pit, 
that  ever  dwell  on  the  confines  of  de- 
struction; these  pests  and  plagues 
break  forth  from  "  the  place  for  the 
breeding  of  nettles,"  as  conditions  fa- 
vor, for  "wheresoever  the  carcass  is" 
thither  are  they  gathered  together. 
Most  rules,  however,  are  relative  and 
qualified;  it  is  certainly  a  general  truth 
that  blights  and  plagues  infest  the  pre- 
disposed mainly,  but  thus  begotten  and 
born,  like  wild  beasts,  they  prey  upon 
the  fatlings  of  the  flock  equally  with 
the  feeble.  In  general,  individuals  of 
vital  vigor  and  abounding  thrift  throw 
off  and  overwhelm  all  invasions.  There- 
i  fore  this  is  the  main  point  at  issue;  that 
i  attained,    and  the  whole    difficulty  is 

i  overcome,  and  all  questions,  physio- 
logical, philosophical,  and  practical, 
solved. 

Let  us  consider  some,  say  a  few,  of 
the  requisites  of  a  healthy  condition, 


location,  etc.,  for  an  orchard  or  grove. 
Tree  health  and  human  health  are  alike 
the  great  desiderata  of  life  and  prosper- 
ity. On  our  coast  the  grove  must  be 
well  sheltered  on  the  north-west  by 
high  mountains,  or  heavy  but  open  and 
well -ventilated  forests  that  shed  their 
mild  invisible  mantle  of  evaporated 
sweet  and  pure  moisture  to  refresh  the 
breeze,  moderate  and  qualify  the  ardor 
of  the  sun,  and  warm  by  its  soothing 
breath  the  wintry  winds  and  chilling- 
frosts.  Such  a  wind-break  is  even  more 
reliable  than  a  broad  expanse  of  water, 
but  above  all  to  ward  off  the  fearful  few 
days5  dry  sirocco  that  rushes  down  from 
the  north;  one  severe  north-wester  of 
three  days'  continuance — unless  a  flood 
of  irrigation  be  poured  on — is  enough 
to  blast  forever  the  brightest  prospects, 
sicken  the  sap,  and  invite  the  future 
foe.  "The  hosts  of  Amalek  that  fall 
on  the  feeble,  and  all  that  is  infirm  in 
thee."  Besides,  broad  -  canopied  Oaks 
and  magnanimous  Sycamores,  with  ben- 
eficent outstretched  arms,  half-shading 
and  sheltering  from  the  smiting  mid- 
day and  post-meridian  sun,  must  be  left 
standing  as  the  God  of  nature  intended 
they  should  be,  to  draw  up  from  His 
deep  store-house  the  nutrient  treasures 
and  scatter  them  bounteously  over  a 
smiling  land.  Here  we  have,  furnished 
to  our  hand,  the  light  leaf -mulch  and 
mold,  annual  tribute  of  the  mighty 
cherishing  monarchs  of  the  land;  friend- 
ly fathers  and  great  guardians  against 
frosts  and  storms,  or  deadly  root-scald- 
ing and  top-burning  suns.  If  these 
conditions  be  lacking,  or  no  adequate 
substitute  furnished  by  man's  imperti- 
nent self-assertion  —  the  labor  of  his 
foot,  beast,  and  plow,  main  strength  and 
much  muscle,  bike  the  strong  ass  bow- 
ing down  to  his  burden — then  woe  to 
the  luckless  wight,  orphan  of  the  grove ! 
Of  course  shallow  surface-rooted  and 


214 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


drone  trees  and  shrubs  that  have  served 
their  purpose  must  he  thoroughly 
grubbed  up — perhaps  a  few  fine  large 
trees  should  be  thinned  out  in  July  and 
August  or  a  little  later.  When  the  ad- 
joining thicket  or  undergrowth  shrub  of 
the  forest  is  too  close,  the  cozy  nook, 
garden,  or  grove,  unduly  heated  by  day, 
rapidly  radiates  at  night,  and  fitful  frosts 
invade.  This  would  never  occur  to  any 
injurious  extent,  if  free  circulation  of 
freshening  breezes  laden  with  the  forest 
evaporation— those  vast  invisible  earth- 
clouds  reaching  miles  away — tempered 
the  sun  by  day,  and  by  a  genial  unob- 
structed soothing  under-breath  at  night 
softly  mantled  the  grove,  murmuring 
sweeter  melodies  as  it  died  along  the 
vale. 

Frosts  seldom  occur,  or  if  so,  do  lit- 
tle or  no  harm,  on  high  north-west  ex- 
posures of  rich  hill-sides,  valleys,  and 
sweet  rolling  lands  not  too  poor.  Or- 
anges are  raised  in  the  mountains  of 
California  where  deep  snows  fall  and 
hard  frosts  are  common;  it  must  there- 
fore be  the  sudden  thaw  or  peculiar  sun 
and  atmosphere  that  does  the  main  mis- 
chief. Indeed,  lowlands,  damp,  cold, 
and  flat,  however  rich,  are  utterly  worth- 
less; the  growth  will  be  sickly  and  sap- 
py; always  ill-matured  in  wood  and 
juices,  they  never  survive  to  purpose 
the  pests  and  frosts.  Poorer  upland  is 
far  better;  though,  if  too  poor,  the  own- 
er may  find  an  elephant  to  feed  freely 
with  fertilizers.  It  may  be  replied,  any 
field  or  grove  that  generously  gives, 
must  receive  some  grateful  equivalent, 
as  a  fair  exchange  is  forever  the, law; 
still,  most  of  us  prefer  at  least  a  good 
capital  in  the  shape  of  soil,  to  start 
with. 

Here  again  it  is  evident,  that,  if  neg- 
lected, stinted,  and  starved,  overstock- 
ed by  trees,  or  excess  of  fruit  thereon, 
or  allowed   precocious  bearing   before 


proper  maturity  of  wood  and  sap,  the 
vital  force  is  weakened;  nay,  the  trees 
are  often  thus  killed  outright.  No  one 
can  continue  to  draw  long  upon  his 
bank  beyond  his  capital. 

Suppose  the  soil  is  shallow,  sterile, 
and  impervious  beneath — such  as  rock, 
hard  gravel,  or  conglomerate,  and  sick- 
ly clay — and  you  have  cut  off  the  tap- 
root to  induce  or  force  precocious  spas- 
modic and  expiring  fruitfulness  ?  Quick 
returns  with  a  vengeance !  "Wind-shak- 
en, drouth -imperiled,  sickly,  stinted, 
bark-bound,  early  exhausted  —  growth 
and .  vigor  together  gone,  and  ready  to 
perish — the  sooty  aphis  and  the  scale 
appear,  advanced  guards  of  lingering 
ruin,  the  black  mantle  of  mourning  an- 
ticipating death. 

Root-grafted  or  budded  ?  Then  their 
death-sentence  was  read  over  them  in 
the  cradle!  Transplanted  too  deep? 
In  both  cases  the  pith  that  belongs 
above-ground,  buried  beneath  it,  be- 
comes sickened,  soured,  dark-brown, 
black,  and  decayed;  the  day  of  death  is 
postponed  to  invite  diseases  and  pests 
unnumbered. 

As  to  practical  cultural  work,  muck 
of  plant-health  and  longevity  certainly 
depends  upon  judicious  treatment.  So 
much  is  said  and  written  on  these 
points,  perhaps  the  subject  might  be  al- 
lowed to  rest  for  awhile,  as  we  have  had 
too  much  to  say  already.  Perhaps  the 
Philistines  are  even  now  preparing  to 
blow  the  trump  of  convocation  to  war 
on  opinions  thus  far  expressed. 

0  Scissors!  GREAT  SCISSORS  !  ! 
Go  thy  way;  decapitate  their  natural 
conic  heads,  cut  off  their  arms>  spare 
not  their  legs — upon  the  old  tyrannical 
Procrustean  plan.  Heed  not  free  and 
rational  republican  trimmings  upon 
the  natural  plan  or  type  of  the  tree, 
leaving  natural  laws  above-ground  and 
beneath  in  some  considerable  freedom 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


215 


to  seek  the  surface  or  delve  in  depths 
for  needful  supplies.  Would  that  thy 
reign,  O  Scissors,  were  doomed  to  dark 
oblivion !  What  havoc  hath  thy  bright 
blades  made  among  ultimate  twigs  and 
tendrils  in  which  is  all  power  of  the 
glorious  vegetable  kingdom.  Verily 
thou  hast  ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron ! — 
shorn  Sampson  of  his  locks.  A  servant 
of  servants  shalt  thou  be  in  the  good 
time  coming.  Ask  Nature,  and  she  will 
tell  thee.  Follow  her  teachings — she 
is  ever  speaking,  answering,  when  no 
one  interrogates,  and  none  listen. 

[Conclusion  next  month.] 


VIOLETS. 

Violets  are  the  sweetest  flowers  in 
Flora's  garden,  and  are  almost  univer- 
sally admired.  There  are  three  varie- 
ties now  cultivated,  viz. :  the  Neapolitan, 
the  Russian,  and  the  English,  or  V. 
odorata.  The  Neapolitan  Violets  are 
far  more  tender  than  all  other  species, 
and  can  not  be  brought  to  perfection 
without  the  aid  of  artificial  heat  or 
some  protection  to  preserve  them  from 
frosts.  In  a  cold  frame  or  under  hand- 
glasses they  can  be  kept  in  bloom  from 
November  to  May.  During  summer 
they  will  take  care  of  themselves,  with 
but  little  attention  from  the  gardener; 
but  as  soon  as  cold  nights  approach, 
the  glasses  should  be  put  over  them  ; 
and  during  severe  cold  they  must  be 
protected  by  matting,  and  the  frames 
banked  up  with  stable  litter.  For  win- 
dow gardening  these  Violets  are  not  a 
success,  unless  the  plants  are  purchased 
when  in  full  bloom  and  kept  in  a  cool 
temperature.  As  pot-plants  they  re- 
quire shifting  into  larger  pots,  as  their 
roots  spread,  and  should  be  liberally 
supplied  with  water  while  in  bloom. 
In  beds,  to  maintain  a  good  succession, 
a  new  bed  should  be  planted  as  soon  as 


the  old  plants  cease  to  flower  ;  but  if 
this  can  not  be  easily  done,  let  the  old 
plants  remain  and  cut  away  all  the 
suckers  they  have  made,  and  give  the 
bed  a  top-dressing  of  rich  loam  and 
well  -  decayed  manure,  half  and  half. 
All  through  the  summer  the  suckers 
should  be  kept  cut  away,  and  the  plants 
will  need  water  occasionally  if  the 
season  is  dry.  By  this  method  very 
strong  plants  can  be  had  for  winter 
flowering,  and  only  one  sash  and  frame 
be  required. 

The  Russian  Violets  are  much  more 
hardy  than  the  Neapolitan,  but  to  blos- 
som freely  they  need  a  rich  soil,  with 
plenty  of  water  when  in  bloom ;  it 
must,  however,  be  well  drained,  so 
that  the  water  will  not  settle  at  their 
roots,  as  this  will  cause  them  to  decay. 
Fresh  beds  made  every  year  from  the 
offsets  will  produce  the.  greatest  pro- 
fusion of  flowers,  and  the  old  beds  can 
be  renovated  with  a  top-dressing  after 
their  flowering  ceases.  The  suckers 
can  be  planted  when  the  old  beds  are 
in  full  bud,  but  all  suckers  produced 
the  first  year  should  be  removed,  so 
that  the  plants  can  form  compact 
crowns,  which  will  produce  flowers  in 
great  plenty.  The  Czar  Violet  is  the 
most  popular  variety  that  is  cultivated, 
but  its  flowers  are  of  a  pale  blue  and 
single,  yet  their  delicious  fragrance  is 
always  appreciated.  It  has,  however, 
a  tendency  to  run  to  leaf  rather  than  to 
bud,  and,  therefore,  should  not  have 
too  rich  a  soil ;  sandy  loam  seems  best 
adapted  to  its  wants. 

These  Violets  can  be  cultivated  like 
Mignonette,  so  as  to  form  a  miniature 
tree.  Take  a  strong,  well-rooted  sucker 
with  a  long  stem,  and  plant  it  in  a  pot  of 
light,  rich  mold.  Put  the  plant  where 
it  can  have  bottom  heat,  and  as  soon  as 
it  seems  to  be  growing  well,  nip  off  all 
the  side  branches  with  the  exception  of 


216 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


two  small  shoots.  Continue  to  do  this, 
keeping  only  the  middle  and  side 
shoots,  and  as  the  three-inch  pot  (which 
should  he  used  at  first)  hecomes  filled 
with  roots,  shift  it  to  the  next  size,  and 
continue  doing  this  as  often  as  the 
roots  touch  the  sides  of  the  pot.  Fresh 
soil  and  a  supply  of  weak  manure- 
water  must  be  given  to  promote  its 
growth,  and  every  flower -bud  picked 
off  as  soon  as  it  is  seen.  In  three  years 
this  course  of  treatment  will  have  pro- 
duced a  stem  at  least  half  an  inch  in 
diameter,  and  a  bell-shaped  head,  which 
may  now  be  allowed  to  bud  and  bloom, 
and  it  will  prove  a  charming  basket- 
plant,  or  an  ornament  for  the  window- 
garden,  or  greenhouse.  The  sweetest- 
scented  flowers  are  not  always  the  most 
brilliant  colored,  for  nature  rarely  be- 
stows upon  one  plant  so  great  perfec- 
tion, although  the  Bose  may  claim  this 
distinction ;  but  Yiolets  possess  the 
pleasing  tints  of  dark  blue  or  purple, 
pure  white,  and  pale  blue,  while  the 
shape  of  the  flowers  is  always  lovely. 
No  one  who  has  a  garden  should  be 
without  a  bed  of  them. 


THE  GREEN  FLY. 


It  is  well  known  that  tobacco  smoke, 
when  properly  applied,  effectually 
clears  the  plants  in  a  frame  or  green- 
house from  the  aphis;  but  the  same 
agent  when  used  in  the  open  air  is  al- 
most useless,  for  although  a  puff  of 
smoke  will  dislodge  the  enemy,  it  does 
not  kill  it — it  is  only  intoxicated  for  a 
time,  and  will  speedily  return  to  its 
predatory  attacks.  Having  myself  a 
collection  of  Roses  scattered  somewhat 
plentifully  over  about  an  acre  of  ground, 
and  all  much  disfigured  with  the  green 
fly,  I  therefore  commenced  operations 
with  gas  water.  Having  diluted  it  with 
six  times  its  bulk  of  water,  I  plentifully 


syringed  some  climbing  Boses  trained 
against  a  wall,  but  to  my  vexation  the 
insects  were  unmoved  either  by  the 
smell  or  the  taste  of  the  dose.  What 
followed  I  relate  as  a  warning.  If  the 
aphis  was  unaffected  by  the  gas  water, 
other  things  were  not.  Despairing  of 
cleaning  my  trees  by  any  solution  or  de- 
coction, I  resolved  to  have  recourse  to 
the  labor  of  my  hands,  and  recklessly 
to  crush  the  bodies  of  those  I  could  not 
poison.  I  went  over  the  bushes,  and 
drew  my  fingers  up  the  shoots  infested, 
thus  slaying  thousands  in  a  minute.  In 
this  way  I  pressed  to  death  all  that  I 
found  on  the  Eose-buds.  The  opera- 
tion is  very  disagreeable,  but  it  is  more 
effectual  than  any  other  I  know.  As 
the  juices  of  the  insects  thus  destroyed 
form  a  sort  of  gum  on  the  branches, 
they  must  be  well  syringed  with  water 
as  you  proceed.  By  this  mode  I  have 
brought  the  enemy  under,  although  he 
is  far  from  being  destroyed.  As  the 
aphides  begin  to  move  when  the  branch 
is  disturbed,  I  think  the  shoot  which  is 
covered  with  them  should  be  held  over 
a  basin  of  water,  and  then  gently  and 
carefully  brushed,  so  that  the  insects 
may  fall  into  the  basin.  These  modes 
of  procedure  may  appear  very  tiresome, 
but  it  is  to  be  understood  that  a  well- 
regulated  garden  is  only  made  so  by 
tiresome  processes. — Cottage  Gardener. 


A  Bemedy  fok  Flowee  Thieves. — A 
lady  residing  on  Bush  Street,  who  has 
suffered  extensively  in  the  loss  of  choice 
plants  from  her  front  garden  plat,  re- 
cently substituted  in  place  of  the  rem- 
nant a  lot  of  the  aggressive  kind  known 
as  nettles,  which  flourish  luxuriantly  in 
the  suburbs  of  Oakland.  The  thief 
made  another  visit  to  the  premises,  but 
only  one  of  these  precious  plants  was 
pulled  up,  and  that  not  conveyed  a  doz- 
en feet. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


217 


FLOWER   CHAT. 

I  have  just  completed  a  new  hanging- 
basket  ;  it  will  be  a  beauty  in  a  month 
or  such  a  matter,  but  now  looks  almost 
scraggy.  I  shall  tell  you  how  it  is 
made.  While  I  was  making  soap  I 
gathered  some  pieces  of  telegraph  wire 
that  had  been  lying  in  the  tool-house 
for  twenty  years  or  more.  I  cut  them 
into  just  the  right  length  (43  inches), 
with  an  old  axe,  then  after  heating  one 
end  of  each  piece  in  my  fire  beneath 
the  soap-kettle,  until  they  were  "red- 
hot,"  bent  it  into  a  hook  with  the 
pincers,  and  then  put  the  other  end 
through  this  hook  or  loop,  heated  again, 
and  bent  it  back  in  the  same  manner. 
After  allowing  them  to  cool,  I  beat  and 
pounded  all  the  dents  out,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  a  very  fair  ring  or 
hoop  of  each  piece  thus  treated.  Two 
of  these  were  then  taken,  tied  at  equal 
distance  apart  with  cord,  then  an  old 
bucket-bail  put  in  the  upper  one,  and 
suspended  by  this  means  to  the  ceiling 
of  the  wash-house,  allowing  it  to  hang 
low  enough  to  be  convenient  for  work- 
ing with ;  now  old  hoops  from  skele- 
ton hoop-skirts  were  woven  between  the 
two  rings  up  and  down,  backward  and 
forward,  across  the  bottom,  and  in  all 
directions,  always  taking  care  to  fasten 
the  work  well  by  bending  them  around 
the  wire.  Now  it  was  ready  for  filling, 
but  owing  to  other  things  insisting  on 
being  done  first,  and  so  much  work 
hurrying  us,  several  days  elapsed  ere 
enough  leisure  time  could  be  gained  to 
get  our  materials  ready.  At  last  there 
came  a  favorable  moment,  and  Jessie 
and  I  seized  it,  took  our  baskets  and 
went  to  the  woods,  coming  back  well 
laden  with  moss  from  the  trunks  of 
trees,  the  ground,  old  stumps,  and  all 
those  places  that  it  loves  to  cluster 
around — such  lovely,  velvety  moss,  of 

Vol.  V.— 24. 


every  shade  of  green — and  not  forget- 
ting some  pretty  branches  of  Fern. 

Before  putting  our  moss  in  we  wound 
the  wires  with  Spanish  moss,  or  simply 
placed  it  in  and  out  among  the  wires, 
leaving  the  long  sprays  hanging  down  ; 
then  placed  the  wood  moss  over  the 
bottom  of  the  basket,  green  side  down. 
At  the  lower  edge  of  the  basket  we  put 
slips  of  l^adescantia  Zebrina  ;  then  moss 
up  the  sides,  taking  care  to  place  slips 
of  Tradescantia  Zebrina  and  Tradescan- 
tia repens  vittata  in  the  crevices  be- 
tween— far  enough  to  allow  their  reach- 
ing the  soil.  After  proceeding  in  this 
way  until  the  sides  were  lined,  we  put  in 
good,  rich  soil  (for  fear  you  may  think 
this  a  small  hanging-basket,  let  me  tell 
you  it  held  three  gallons  of  soil);  then 
placed  the  Tradescantia  around  the  edge, 
planted  the  Fern  in  the  centre,  placed 
moss  over  the  soil,  and  after  dampen- 
ing it  all  nicely,  hung  it  in  a  cellar, 
near  a  window,  and  here  we  shall  leave 
it  for  a  few  days — sprinkling  it  every 
morning — until  it  gets  thoroughly  es- 
tablished and  starts  to  growing.  Then 
we  will  remove  it  to  the  shade  of  a  tree 
or  suspend  it  in  the  north  porch,  and 
water  every  day ;  and  I  know  it  will  be 
refreshing  to  feast  one's  eyes  upon  in 
the  long,  hot  days  of  midsummer. 

Nothing  is  lovelier,  to  my  eyes,  at 
least,  than  a  well-kept  hanging-basket, 
and  nothing  is  more  pitiful  looking  than 
a  half-watered,  starving  one.  Such  a 
one  always  makes  me  feel  like  dumping 
its  contents  out,  underneath  the  cur- 
.  rants  or  some  such  suitable  place,  tore- 
gain  their  freshness. 

There  are  so  many  women  and  girls 
imagine  they  must  have  them,  and  soon 
as  the  newness  wears  away  forget  to 
water  them,  consequently  the  poor 
plants  are  starved  to  death,  and  the  cry 
is  "no  luck."  We  sprinkle  ours  every 
day  with  nice  lukewarm  water,  and  sev- 


218 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUEIST. 


eral  times  through  the  week  give  them 
a  "ducking" — plunging  them  in  the 
water  until  they  are  real  wet,  then  hang 
them  up  to  drip.  This  method  of 
plunging  must  not  be  resorted  to  until 
the  plants  are  growing,  and  the  soil  is 
held  together  by  the  roots,  or  when  the 
basket  is  lifted  it  will  "wash  out"  in 
many  places.  I  did  think  of  giving  a 
partial  list  of  plants  suitable  for  bas- 
kets, but  I  shall  not  attempt  such  a  thing 
— I  would  utterly  fail.  There  are  so 
many,  many  lovely  things  suitable  for 
this  purpose,  and  each  has  a  peculiar 
beauty  of  its  own  not  obtainable  by 
another.  How  well  I  would  love  to 
own  one  of  those  lovely  hanging-bas- 
kets, filled  to  overflowing  with  beauty, 
that  Lane  &  Bros,  advertise  in  their 
catalogues,  but  we  farmer  folks  must 
be  content  with  ' '  home  manufacture  " 
for  awhile  longer,  especially  now  when 
everyone  unites  with  everyone  else  in 
croaking  hard  times.  I  am  going  to 
keep  hoping  for  the  "  good  time  com- 
ing "  though,  and  I  earnestly  hope  if  I 
ever  am  permitted  to  ' '  see  my  ship 
come  in,"  I  may  see  among  the  "  gal- 
lant treasures  that  she  bears  for  me  " 
a  pretty  good  stock  of  hanging-baskets 
and  lovely  flowers.  "  God's  smiles," 
some  one  has  called  the  flowers,  and  I 
love  to  call  them  this,  too.  Here  I 
am,  taking  up  too  much  space  with  my 
chat.  Perhaps  I  shall  tell  you  more 
.  about  our  hanging-baskets,  and  some 
about  our  flowers  at  a  future  time. — 
Correspondence  Cincinnati  Times. 


FUNGI. 

Although  all  kinds  of  fungi  are  now 
duly  and  universally  admitted  as  plants 
into  the  vegetable  kingdom,  there  was 
at  one  time  a  doubt  as  to  whether  the 
order  Myxogastres  was  of   an  animal  or 


vegetable  nature.  It  is  now  known 
that  there  is  no  relationship  between 
this  or  any  other  order  and  the  lower 
forms  of  animal  life.  Another  question 
concerning  fungi  is  the  probability  of 
minute  fungi  being  developed  without 
the  intervention  of  germs  from  certain 
solutions.  Mr.  Cook's  opinion  on  this 
subject  is,  that  it  must  ever  "be  mat- 
ter of  doubt  that  all  germs  were  not 
excluded  or  destroyed,  rather  than  one 
of  belief  that  forms  known  to  be  de- 
veloped day  by  day  from  germs  should 
under  other  conditions  originate  spon- 
taneously. Fungi  are  veritably  and 
unmistakably  plants,  of  low  organiza- 
tion, it  is  true,  but  still  plants,  devel- 
oped from  germs  somewhat  analogous, 
but  not  wholly  homologous,  to  the  seeds 
of  higher  orders."  The  number  of 
species  of  fungi  is  as  great  as  their 
habits  and  places  of  growth  are  various. 
A  large  number  thrive  parasitically  on 
many  kinds  of  plants,  distorting,  and, 
in  many  cases,  ultimately  destroying, 
their  host;  burrowing  within  the  tis- 
sues, and  causing  rust  and  smut  in 
corn  and  grasses,  or  are  even  more  in- 
jurious in  such  forms  as  the  potato  dis- 
ease and  its  allies.  A  still  larger  num- 
ber of  fungi  are  developed  from  de- 
cayed or  decaying  vegetable  matter. 
Some  species  are  always  found  upon 
animal  matter — leather,  horn,  bone, 
etc. — while  some  affect  such  unprom- 
ising substances  as  minerals,  being 
found  not  only  on  hard  gravel-stones 
and  fragments  of  rock,  but  also  on 
metals,  such  as  iron  and  lead.  Of  the 
fungi  found  on  animal  substances,  none 
are  more  extraordinary  than  those 
species  which  attack  insects,  such  as 
the  white  mold  which  in  autumn  proves 
so  destructive  to  the  common  house-fly, 
or  the  mold  named  Isaria  in  which 
moths,  spiders,  and  butterflies  become 
enveloped.     In  the  case  of  the  Guepes 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


219 


vegetantes,  the  wasp  is  said  to  fly  about 
with  the  fungus  partially  developed. 
Many  of  the  molds  are  miniature  repre- 
sentatives of  higher  plants,  having 
roots,  stems,  and  branches,  and  spori- 
dia-bearing  capsules  which  correspond 
to  seeds.  A  tuft  of  mold  is  in  minia- 
ture a  forest  of  trees,  and  says  Mr. 
Cook,  "although  such  a  definition  may 
be  deemed  more  poetic  than  accurate, 
more  figurative  than  literal,  yet  few 
could  believe  in  the  marvelous  beauty 
of  a  tuft  of  mold  if  they  never  saw  it 
as  exhibited  under  the  microscope." 
— Overland  Monthly. 


ASHES  AND  IEON  FOE  FLOWERS. 

The  observation  of  practical  and  ex- 
perimental gardeners  seems  to  confirm 
the  fact  that,  to  procure  brilliant  colors 
in  flowers,  it  is  necessary  to  supply  the 
soil  with  an  abundance  of  ferruginous 
constituents  and  silica.  The  latter  sup- 
plies a  material  (says  S.  E.  Todd,  in 
one  of  our  foreign  exchanges)  which  is 
of  vast  importance  in  the  production  of 
that  brilliancy  of  the  petals  and  the 
dark  green  lustre  of  the  leaves.  Then, 
if  potash  be  added,  or  the  ground  be 
dressed  around  about  the  growing 
flowers  with  unleached  wood-ashes,  an 
increased  brilliancy  will  appear  in  every 
petal  and  leaf. 

Any  person  who  cultivates  only  a  few 
flowers  in  pots,  or  between  grassy 
lawns,  or  on  spacious  parterres,  may 
readily  satisfy  himself  of  the  exceed- 
ingly useful  part  that  the  foregoing  ma- 
terials play  in  the  production  of  beau- 
tiful flowers.  Even  white  flowers,  or 
Roses  that  have  petals  nearly  white, 
will  be  greatly  improved  in  brilliancy 
by  providing  iron  sand  and  unleached 
ashes  for  the  roots  of  growing  plants. 
Ferruginous  material  may  be  applied 


to  the  soil  where  flowers  are  grow- 
ing, or  where  they  are  to  grow, 
by  procuring  a  supply  of  oxide 
of  iron,  in  the  form  of  dark-colored 
scales  that  fall  from  the  heated 
bars  of  iron  when  the  metal  is  ham- 
mered by  the  blacksmiths. 

Iron-turnings  and  iron-filings,  which 
may  be  obtained  for  a  trifle  at  most 
machine-shops,  should  be  worked  into 
the  soil  near  the  flowers ;  and  in  a  few 
years  it  will  be  perceived  that  all  the 
minute  fragments  will  have  been  dis- 
solved, thus  furnishing  the  choicest 
material  for  painting  the  gayest  colors 
of  the  flower-garden.  When  there  is 
an  excess  of  vegetable  mold  in  a  flower- 
bed, and  a  deficiency  of  silica  or  sand, 
the  flowers  will  never  be  so  rich  in 
color,  nor  so  brilliant,  as  they  would  be 
were  a  liberal  dressing  of  sand,  or 
sandy  loam,  worked  down  into  the  bed, 
where  the  growing  roots  could  reach  it. 
If  wood-ashes  can  be  obtained  readily, 
let  a  dressing  be  spread  over  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  about  half  an  inch 
deep,  and  be  raked  in. 

A  dressing  of  quick-lime  will  be  found 
excellent  for  flowers  of  every  descrip- 
tion. It  is  also  of  eminent  importance 
to  improve  the  fertility  of  the  soil 
where  flowers  are  growing,  in  order  to 
have  mature,  plump,  ripe  seed.  Let 
the  foregoing  materials  be  spread 
around  the  flowers  and  raked  in,  at  any 
convenient  period  of  the  year.  "When 
soil  is  prepared  for  flowers  in  pots,  let 
some  sand,  some  oxide  of  iron,  and 
ashes  be  mingled  thoroughly  with  the 

leaf  mold. 

■ ♦ 

Health  from  Flowers. — It  is  report- 
ed that  an  Italian  professor  has  discov- 
ered that  perfumes  from  flowers  have  a 
chemical  effect  on  the  atmosphere,  con- 
verting its  oxygen  into  ozone,  and  thus 
increasing  its  health-imparting  powers. 


220 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICTJLTUEIST. 


<StlitotiaX  WmtttiW. 


VISIT    TO    THE    UNIVEESITY  OF   CALI- 
FORNIA.. 

We  lately  enjoyed  the  gratification  of 
visiting  this  all-important  institution 
for  the  benefit  of  our  State.  We  were 
most  kindly  and  hospitably  received 
and  entertained  by  R.  E.  C.  Stearns, 
Secretary,  and  Superintendent  of  the 
Agricultural  Grounds.  This  gentleman 
conducted  us  over  them,  the  two  pro- 
pagating-houses,  the  work-rooms  for 
potting  and  handling  plants,  tool- 
room, office  for  the  gardener,  etc.,  etc. 
We  found  the  houses  full  of  plants  and 
cuttings  in  a  forward  state,  intended 
for  the  illustration  of  Floriculture  and 
Arboriculture.  A  great  deal  of  work 
has  been  done  in  this  department  within 
less  than  one  year,  and  many  of  the 
Eucalypti  and  Australian  Acacias  have 
have  been  already  planted  out  and  are 
thriving  finely.  The  Eucalypti  espe- 
cially have  attained  an  extraordinary 
growth  for  so  short  a  time.  A  standard 
orchard  has  been  planted  with  great 
labor,  as  the  soil  there  is  stubborn  and 
sour  adobe,  but  sufficient  of  a  kindly 
and  fertile  earth  has  been  brought  and 
utilized  so  as  to  insure  the  future  wel- 
fare of  the  fruit-trees.  In  connec- 
tion with  the  planting  of  all  the  va- 
rieties of  fruits,  especial  attention  will 
be  had  with  regard  to  their  correct 
nomenclature — a  most  important  con- 
sideration for  the  successful  pursuit  of 
pomology  everywhere. 

We  found  the  judicious  laying  out  of 
the  roads  and  paths  in  the  graceful 
curvilinear  style  going  on  in  all  parts 
of  the  200  acres  belonging  to  the  Uni- 
versity domain.  New  and  picturesque 
bridges  are  to  be  thrown  over  the  creek 
in  many  places,  to  embellish  the  very 
attractive  natural  beauties  of  the  loca- 
tion, so  well  furnished  with  beautiful 


native  trees,  shrubs  and  flowers. 
Rough  places  in  the  grounds  are  being 
made  smooth,  and  the  noble  and  gro- 
tesque aspect  of  the  old  Oaks,  the  mon- 
archs  of  the  groves,  are  being  enhanced 
by  these  improvements  in  their  ma- 
jestic character,  by  bringing  them  more 
fully  out  for  the  admiration  of  the 
visitor. 

Last  year  the  State  Fish  Commis- 
sioners erected  here  a  propagating- 
house,  and  many  thousands  of  young 
trout  were  hatched,  and  have  been 
transferred  and  planted  in  our  lakes 
and  rivers.  There  is  a  portion  of  the 
grounds  in  front  of  the  University 
buildings  well  adapted  for  the  purpose 
of  making  fish-ponds.  It  is,  therefore, 
proposed  to  build  dams  at  favorable 
points  in  the  creek,  which  will  serve 
the  double  purpose  of  protecting  the 
banks  and  furnishing  sufficient  water 
in  the  ponds  for  the  fish. 

Out  of  the  200  acres  belonging  to 
the  University,  some  forty  acres  are  re- 
served for  agricultural  purposes  and 
experiments,  and  the  remainder  to  il- 
lustrate the  principles  and  methods  of 
landscape  ornamentation,  forestry,  bot- 
any, and  allied  studies. 

There  is  no  institution  in  the  United 
States  where  so  much  pains  is  taken 
to  carry  out  the  agricultural,  its  kindred 
and  every  other  science,  in  the  most 
manual-labor  and  practical  manner,  as 
in  this.  Practical  exercises  here  are 
closely  united  with  theoretical  ones. 

We  visited  the  museum  of  mineral- 
ogy and  geology,  where  we  found  Mr. 
Hanks,  the  assayer,  at  work,  cleaning, 
arranging,  classifying,  and  labeling  all 
the  various  and  interesting  specimens. 
The  collections  are  very  large  and  val- 
uable, and  we  saw  hundreds  of  cases 
piled  up  and  yet  unopened.  We  saw 
also  the  museum  of  economic  and  sys- 
tematic botany,  the  chemical    labora- 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOETICULTUKIST. 


221 


tories,  the  library,  college  of  mechanics, 
the  surveying  instruments  for  engineer- 
ing, philosophical  apparatus,  lecture- 
room,  printing-office,  etc.,  etc.,  and  all 
in  the  most  complete  order  and  clean- 
liness, with  airy  apartments.  Of  course 
we  took  the  most  interest  in  the  agri- 
cultural and  horticultural  departments 
of  this  noble  institution,  but  the  condi- 
tion of,  and  the  attention  paid  to,  all 
the  other  educational  sciences  are  an 
honor  to  our  State,  and  may  they  long 
prosper  under  so  worthy  an  establish- 
ment without  any  hindrance  from  too 
much  or  too  short-sighted  and  narrow- 
minded  legislation,  often  the  sad  and 
great  bane  of  commonwealths  and 
states. 

MK.  VICE'S   TKIP   TO  THE  PACIFIC. 

We  have  taken  much  interest  in  read- 
ing of  the  visit  of  the  great  florist  of 
the  United  States  to  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia. There  is  much  pleasant  humor 
mingled  with  instruction  in  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  grand  scenery  and  floral 
novelties  and  beauties  which  he  witness- 
ed while  in  this  State.  Mr.  Vick,  of 
course,  speaks  of  the  climate,  and  does 
not  fail  to  do  it  ample  justice  in  stating 
that  it  is  "  all  that  could  be  desired," 
thereby  admitting  its  "greater  coolness 
compared  to  the  East  in  the  summer 
months;  but  visiting  California  only  in 
the  summer,  he  could  not  say  anything 
concerning  the  winter  here,  which  also, 
in  comparison  with  the  East,  consti- 
tutes its  highest  value  for  enjoyment, 
comfort,  and  happiness,  on  account  of 
its  mildness  and  genial  temperature. 
As  Mr.  Hittell  says  in  his  excellent 
work  on  California:  "In  St.  Louis,  for 
instance,  the  winter  months  rarely  have 
a  day  which  is  really  comfortable  in  the 
open  air;  while  at  least  half  the  season 
is  so  in  California,  the  sky  being  clear, 


the  sun  warm,  and  the  breezes  gentle, 
so  that  the  weather  bears  a  strong  re- 
semblance in  temperature  to  the  Indian 
summer  in  the  upper  Mississippi  basin. 
Our  coldest  winter  days  at  noon  are  as 
the  warmest  in  Philadelphia."  Mr. 
Vick  observes:  "Too  much  has  not 
been  said  of  some  of  the  beautiful  val- 
leys of  California,  but  we  were  surprised 
to  find  so  much  land  that  never  can  be 
cultivated,  rocky,  barren  mountains, 
furnishing  only  a  scanty  growth  of 
brush  for  cattle  to  browse."  This  is 
perfectly  true,  for  probably  no  more  than 
one  acre  in  ten  on  this  coast  can  be  prof- 
itably tilled,  and  of  this  not  more  than 
one  acre  in  four,  owing  to  want  of  wa- 
ter for  irrigation,  will  be  tilled  during 
this  century;  but  the  State  is  very  ex- 
tensive and  there  are  great  advantages 
in  many  other  points.  The  climate  in 
the  valleys  is  so  warm  and  the  sky  so 
clear  through  the  winter,  that  vegetable 
life  on  moist  ground  is  almost  as  active 
in  January  as  in  July;  and  trees  and 
shrubs  have  nearly  twice  as  much  time 
to  grow  and  mature  as  in  the  Eastern 
States,  where  frost  reigns  from  October 
to  May.  The  superiority  of  California 
productions  is  owing  chiefly  to  the  more 
favorable  climate.  The  view  that  Mr. 
Yick  takes  with  respect  to  the  desirable- 
ness of  the  large  ranches  being  divided 
up  into  small  farms  is  very  just,  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  the  owners  of  these 
great  tracts  of  land  will  be  so  taxed  by 
the  State  as  to  oblige  them,  or  make  it 
to  their  interest,  to  sell.  Mr.  Vick  ad- 
vises all,  who  are  able,  to  visit  Califor- 
nia, and  recommends  to  those  having  an 
intention  to  settle  here  with  their  fam- 
ilies, to  first  make  a  tour  of  the  country, 
on  account  of  the  difference  of  climate 
and  customs.  With  regard  to  climate, 
we  believe  that  everything  connected 
with  that  is  in  its  favor;  and  with  respect 
to  customs,  we  do  not  think  there  is  any 


222 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


difference  worth  speaking  of  in  them, 
compared  with  the  rest  of  the  Union — 
if  anything,  we  consider  that  they  are 
in  favor  of  this  State.  Of  course  Mr. 
Vick  could  not  fail  to  be  enchanted  with 
the  native  plants  and  flowers  of  this  re- 
gion. He  relates  that  among  other  nu- 
merous beautiful  and  wonderful  floral 
productions,  he  "knelt  in  wonder  and 
delight  before  the  beautiful  Snow  Plant, 
Sarcodes  sanguinea — just  trying  to  dig 
one  up."  Mr.  Vick  gives  an  engraving 
of  this  curious  plant  in  his  Floral  Guide, 
Number  3,  for  1875.  He  visited  the 
famous  Yosemite  Valley,  the  Big  Trees, 
and  the  Geysers,  and  will  reserve  the 
description  of  the  Yosemite  for  another 
number.  The  last  two  scenes  he  de- 
scribes with  enthusiasm  in  the  present 
number  of  his  Guide,  already  partially 
noticed. 

MECHANICS*  INSTITUTE  FAIE. 

The  preparations  for  the  horticultu- 
ral department  of  our  great .  exhibition 
is  now  in  a  forward  state.  The  Horti- 
cultural Garden  promises  to  be  a  credit 
to  the  managers  of  the  Institute,  and 
we  trust,  also,  that  it  will  prove  a  suc- 
cess and  honor  to  the  florists  and  nur- 
serymen who  may  be  induced  to  bring 
in  their  plants.  The  managers  have 
concluded,  this  year,  to  award  gold  and 
silver  medals  as  premiums  for  merit 
and  rewards,  instead  of  cash.  Every 
precaution  has  been  taken,  at  any  rate 
as  much  perhaps  as  possible,  to  prevent 
injury  to  the  plants  to  be  exhibited. 
The  canvas  for  covering  the  building  is 
of  unbleached  muslin  sheeting,  saturat- 
ed with  an  anti-combustible  liquid,  and 
well  provided  with  proper  ventilators. 
The  plateau  at  the  south  end,  and  all 
the  walks  and  standing  room,  will  be 
covered  with  redwood  flooring  of  the 
best   quality.     The   entrance  from  the 


main  building  will  be  handsomely  dec- 
orated. The  north  end  is  to  be  orna- 
mented with  rustic  work,  and  rustic 
rock-work  will  be  erected  in  front  of 
the  main  avenue  at  the  north  end.  The 
inside  walls  of  the  garden  will  be  grace- 
fully covered  with  evergreens,  and  the 
hall  lighted  with  fourteen  reflectors,  of 
ten  burners  each,  on  both  sides,  and 
one  at  each  end,  at  a  height  of  twenty- 
two  feet  above  ground.  The  stair-way 
from  the  plateau  will  be  twenty-four 
feet  wide.  In  the  grass-plat  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  main  avenue  a  grand  fount- 
ain will  be  erected.  Mr.  J.  Beggs,  of 
Gilroy,  intends  to  make  a  large  and 
splendid  exhibit  of  different  specimens 
of  varieties  of  woods  on  this  coast.  He 
has  also  been  granted  the  privilege  of 
constructing  a  pyramid  of  Pine  cones, 
fifteen  feet  square  and  forty  feet  high, 
which  will,  no  doubt,  produce  a  very 
imposing,  attractive,  and  unique  effect. 
We  trust  that  all  our  florists,  nur- 
serymen, and  fruitists  will  endeavor  to 
come  forward  and  exhibit  their  produc- 
tions, to  make  this  horticultural  depart- 
ment of  the  Fair  a  satisfactory  success, 
and  promote  at  the  same  time  their  own 
and  the  public's  interests  and  benefits. 


AMERICAN    POMOLOGICAL    SOCIETY. 

"We  learn,  says  the  Prairie  Farmer, 
that  the  Illinois  State  Horticultural 
Society  are  perfecting  their  plans  for 
entertaining  the  American  Pomological 
Society,  and  securing  a  grand  exhibi- 
tion of  fruits  on  the  8th,  9th,  and  10th 
of  September.  They  have  probably  se- 
cured a  hall  for  discussion  at  the  corner 
of  Clark  and  "Washington  streets,  adja- 
cent to  the  Court  House  Square  and  con- 
venient to  a  number  of  the  leading  ho- 
tels. The  exhibition  it  is  expected  will 
be  held  in  the  south  end  of  the  Exposi- 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


223 


tion  building,  adjacent  to  the  floral  de- 
partment, and  occupying  some  7,0'00 
square  feet  of  the  main  floor  and  gallery. 
The  fruits  will  be  arranged,  first,  ac- 
cording to  States,  Territories,  and  prov- 
inces. That  is,  all  the  fruits  from  the 
same  State  will  be  placed  together  in 
the  space  allotted  to  that  State,  without 
interf  eiing  with  the  integrity  of  individ- 
ual collections. 

This  exhibition  begins  on  the  same 
day  that  the  Inter-state  Exposition 
commences,  and  will  be  kept  up  not 
only  through  the  week  of  the  American 
Pomological  meeting,  but  during  the 
four  weeks  of  the  exposition.  This  will 
be  done  by  the  State  Society,  aided  by 
those  exhibitors  who  choose  to  leave 
their  contributions,  and  by  new  contrib- 
utors who  have  promised  to  send  in 
new  fruits  from  week  to  week. 

An  attempt  will  be  made  to  secure  an 
exhibition  of  fruits  from  all  parts  of 
North  America,  and  to  make  this  emi- 
nently a  national  show  of  pomological 
products.  We  have  a  wide  range  of 
soil  and  climate,  from  that  of  tropical 
Key  West  to  arctic  Alaska,  and  can 
probably  gather  as  wid  a  range  of 
fruits,  sheltered  by  the  broad  wings  of 
the  American  eagle,  as  can  be  found  in 
any  nation  on  earth. 


THE  BLUE  GUM-TREE,  OR  EUCALYP- 
TUS GLOBULUS. 

While  we  have  no  doubt  that  this 
now  very  popular  tree  is  admirably 
adapted  for  plantations  and  timber 
from  its  rapid  growth,  and  also  proba- 
bly to  be  esteemed  on  account  of  its 
hygienic  virtues  as  an  artidote  to  ma- 
laria and  fevers,  we  •"  .e  yet,  from  our 
observations  of  its  characteristic  growth, 
far  from  believing  that  it  is  well  adapted 
for  shade  and  ornament.  As  it  advan- 
ces in  its  growth  the  lower  limbs  seem 


to  shed  naturally;  and  its  habit  is  to 
grow  very  tall,  which  makes  it  desirable 
to  cut  off  to  a  certain  extent  its  top. 
When  this  is  done,  it  then  throws  out 
three  or  four  limbs,  which  extend  up  at 
a  great  length  and  almost  perpendicu- 
larly in  a  straggling  manner,  and  as 
single  trees  are  not  handsome  nor  at- 
tractive to  the  eye.  This  is  no  detri- 
ment to  it  for  groves  or  forests,  but 
does  not  make  it  suitable  near  dwell- 
ings or  on  road-sides.  Although  they 
are  planting  this  Australian  Gum-tree 
so  much  in  the  warmer  countries  of 
Europe  (chiefly  we  suppose  for  its 
health-giving  qualities),  as  well  as  in 
California,  in  promenades  and  public 
and  private  gardens — in  fact,  it  seems 
making  the  tour  of  the  world— we  con- 
fess, as  far  as  we  have  noticed  it  here  as 
a  single  tree,  we  can  not  regard  it  as  a 
beautiful  one,  except  when  quite  young, 
or  when  it  is  about  three  or  four  years 
old. 

BENEDICT  ROEZL  AND  J.  BEGG. 

We  lately  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
and  conversing  with  the  eminent  botan- 
ist and  collector,  Benedict  Eoezl.  This 
gentleman  has  been  a  great  traveler  in 
many  parts  of  the  world  for  the  last 
thirty-five  years.  In  the  Gardener's 
Chronicle  of  June,  1874,  there  is  a  very 
laudatory  notice  of  him.  In  the  course 
of  his  travels  he  makes  colored  pictures 
of  many  beautiful  and  rare  plants  and 
flowers,  forming  most  interesting  speci- 
mens for  his  portfolios.  Mr.  Eoezl  is 
now  on  his  way  to  England,  whither  ha 
has  sent  30,000  orchids  from  South 
America.  He  was  the  first  discoverer 
of  the  Eamie  in  the  Island  of  Java,  and 
invented  a  mill,  for  which  he  has  a  pa- 
tent, to  separate  the  fibre,  which  was 
completely  successful,  but,  owing  to 
his  having  most  unfortunately  lost  his 


224 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


left  arm  in  New  Orleans  in  operating 
with  it,  he  has  relinquished  the  under- 
taking— an  event  that  may  be  consider- 
ed a  great  loss  to  the  arts  and  com- 
merce. 

"We  also  met  at  the  same  time  with 
Mr.  J.  Begg,  of  Grilroy,  who  is  an  en- 
lightened and  energetic  collector  of  the 
Pine  family,  of  the  cones  of  which  he 
has  a  fine  and  handsome  display  at  R. 
J.  Trumbull's,  Sansome  Street.  Mr. 
B.  has  discovered  some  new  species  of 
Pines,  the  family  of  which  has  been 
hitherto  much  neglected  on  this  coast. 
He  intends  making  an  exhibition  of 
cones  at  our  approaching  Mechanics' 
Institute  Fair,  prior  to  one  on  a  much 
larger  scale  at  our  Centennial  next  year 
at  Philadelphia. 


CATALOGUES  EECEIVED. 

From  William  Bull:  "  A  Retail  List 
of  New,  Beautiful,  and  Rare  Plants," 
King's  Road,  Chelsea,  London,  S.  W., 
for  1875.  The  greatest  reliance  may  be 
placed  on  Mr.  Bull's  recommendations, 
as  every  possible  care  is  taken  that  only 
gardeners  of  thorough  ability,  practical 
experience,  steady  habits,  and  whose 
integrity  is  unimpeachable,  are  entered 
on  his  register.  These  plants  have 
been  introduced  from  Madagascar,  Pe- 
ru, Java,  Philippine  Islands,  New  Cale- 
donia, St.  Catherine's,  Rio  Negro,  Nic- 
aragua, U.  S.  of  Colombia,  Costa  Rica, 
Para,  Natal,  Japan,  Ascension,  South 
Sea,  and  Fiji  Islands. 


Tall  Trees. — The  subjoined  extract 
may  prove  interesting  to  readers  of  the 
Horticulturist,  more  especially  as  the 
Eucalyptus  is  a  favorite  in  this  State, 
and  being  extensively  planted  every- 
where :  ' '  Some  idea  of  the  loftiness  at- 
tained by  trees  of  the  genus  Eucalyptus 


may  be  formed  when  it  is  stated  that 
some  of  the  specimens  of  E.  amygdalin- 
us,  measured  by  Baron  von  Mueller,  the 
government  botanist  of  Victoria,  would 
overtop  the  cross  on  St.  Paul's  Cathe- 
dral." 

»-♦-» 

R.  J.  Trumbull,  removed  to  419  and 
421  Sansome  Street,  more  commodious 
quarters  for  his  increasing  business, 
has  just  received  a  number  of  new  and 
valuable  seeds,  among  which  may  be 
mentioned  PinusBusselliana,  P.  leiophyU 
la,  P.  Montezuma,  Picea  religiosa,  Bra- 
hea  calcavata  (Palm),  and  the  Dahlia 
Maximiliana. 


Women  est  the  Garden.  —  However 
aghast  some  "  fine  ladies  "  may  regard 
the  idea  of  working  in  the  garden,  I 
consider  it  one  of  the  most  wholesome 
means  of  exercise  within  our  reach. 
Wholesome  especially,  because  we  have 
an  object,  and  an  interesting  one,  in 
this  exercise,  which  is  the  growth  of 
flowers  and  plants.  Before  commen- 
cing work  in  the  garden,  put  on  a  pair 
of  worn-out  leather  gloves,  a  broad- 
brimmed  sun  hat,  and  a  pair  of  good 
stout  boots;  if  not  stout,  then  wear  a 
pair  of  thin  gum  overshoes.  The  damp- 
ness of  the  soil  is  very  liable  to  produce 
a  cold.  Don't  be  afraid  that  the  labor 
will  hurt  you,  even  if  you  should  be- 
come very  tired;  on  the  contrary,  it  will 
strengthen  you,  give  you  rosy  cheeks, 
and  may  add  years  to  your  life.  There 
is  not  a  spring  that  I  do  not  spend  two 
weeks  at  least  at  work  in  the  garden, 
and  I  tell  you  that  to  me  there  is  noth- 
ing so  agreeable,  I  may  say  fascinating; 
and  this  feeling  is  doubled  when  I  see 
the  fine  flowers  and  good  vegetables 
growing  and  put  upon  the  table  from 
my  own  handiwork. — Germantown  Tele- 
graph. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


225 


REPORT  ON  THE  FEUIT  AND   VEGETA- 
TABLE  MARKET. 

BY   E.    J.    HOOPEB. 

Nature  has  so  wisely  and  beneficently 
arranged  it  that  fruits  begin  to  be 
abundant  in  proportion  as  the  summer 
heat  seems  to  create  a  necessity  for 
them  —  Strawberries,  Currants,  Groose- 
berries,  and  Cherries.  These,  of  course, 
are  all  intended  for  our  use  and  enjoy- 
ment, and  we  may  add  even  the  other 
animals;  but  man,  particularly  if  living 
in  cities,  whose  modes  of  life  are  so  ar- 
tificial, should  use  them  with  proper 
caution  and  prudence.  We  should  shun 
those  especially  which  are  unripe.  Many 
of  the  summer  fruits  in  our  markets  are 
gathered  before  they  are  ripe.  They 
are  often  brought  to  the  cities  in  this 
condition,  in  order  that  being  early 
they  may  command  a  good  price.  Of 
ripe  fruits  Strawberries  are  the  best  for 
May  and  June.  Cherries  are  not  quite 
so  wholesome.  Currants  are  not  good 
unless  fully  ripe.  Green  Currants  are 
to  be  avoided,  even  though  cooked  in 
pies,  stewed,  etc.;  they  are  even  then 
almost  wholly  unfit  to  be  eaten.  So 
also  are  green  Gooseberries  in  the  same 
way,  unless  the  digestion  is  very  power- 
ful. Fruits,  though  ever  so  ripe  and 
wholesome,  should  not  be  taken  after  a 
full  meal,  fashionable  as  it  may  be  to 
serve  them  up  as  a  dessert.  Let  them 
either  form  a  part  or  the  whole  of  a 
light  meal,  or  let  them  be  taken  between 
meals,  at  the  farthest  distance  from 
them.  The  stones  of  all  fruits  are  more 
or  less  injurious,  and  should  be  avoid- 
ed. So  are  the  pods  of  Peas,  Beans, 
etc.,  although  cooked. 

In  regard  to  the  use  of  tropical  fruits, 
by  people  residing  as  we  do  in  the 
warmer  temperate  zone,  there  are  differ- 
ent opinions.  Some  suppose  that  we 
should  be  more  healthy  without  them; 


others  think  that  the  cooling  juices  of 
the  Orange  and  Lemon,  and  the  fine 
subacid  of  the  Banana,  esjjecially  in 
the  great  heat  of  summer,  are  not  only 
quite  harmless,  but  on  the  whole  entire- 
ly beneficial.  I  am  inclined  to  the  lat- 
ter opinion.  I  consider  it  probable 
that  those  especially  whose  employ- 
ments subject  them  to  much  exposure 
to  the  heat  must  derive  great  advantage 
from  the  use  of  the  Orange,  and  occa- 
sionally of  the  Lemon,  and  the  Banana 
and  Fig  I  believe  are  perfectly  innocent 
food.  If  no  person  were  so  situated  as 
to  be  obliged  to  overheat  himself  in  the 
least  degree,  the  case  would  be  differ- 
ent. But  the  world  is  not  as  some 
would  be  glad  to  have  it  in  every  re- 
spect. Man  is  yet  doomed  to  toil,  and 
probably  always  will  be;  though  I  hope 
not  always  to  a  degree  of  it  which  is  ex- 
cessive and  injurious.  For  very  hard 
labor,  in  the  great  summer  heat,  pro- 
duces a  feverish  state  of  the  system,  and 
often  a  relaxed  and  weakened  and  per- 
haps a  deranged  state  of.  the  stomach 
and  bowels.  Now,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  a  moderate  use  of  cooling  fruits  of 
some  sort,  either  foreign  or  domestic, 
taken  under  proper  restrictions,  will  do 
much  to  counteract  this  tendency  to  dis- 
ease. Great  caution,  however,  is  nec- 
essary both  as  to  quality  and  quantity; 
and  also  to  the  manner  and  time  of  us- 
ing them,  and  hence  arises  our  doubt 
about  the  use  of  tropical  fruits.  In  or- 
der to  have  the  juices  of  fruits  perfectly 
wholesome  they  should,  as  I  said  be- 
fore concerning  our  own  native  fruits, 
be  perfectly  ripe;  and  should  ripen, 
with  the  exception  of  most  Pears  and 
Peaches,  in  nature's  own  way.  But  the 
Oranges,  and  probably  the  Lemons,  es- 
pecially the  earliest  that  reach  us,  are 
picked  before  they  are  ripe.  Can  they, 
therefore,  be  as  wholesome  as  if  they  ri- 
pened on  the  trees  ? 


226 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


May  it  not  be  possible,  after  all,  that 
if  -we  used  no  heating  food  or  drinks 
or  condiments  during  the  hot  season 
(although  red  pepper  may  be  taken  in 
small  quantities  with  a  morbid  and  in- 
active liver),  no  very  salt  and  indigest- 
ible strong  fibrous  meat  or  fish,  no 
strong  coffee  or  tea  or  fermented  liquors, 
no  pejDper,  vinegar,  mustard,  etc. — our 
own  cooling  fruits  and  berries,  coming 
as  they  providentially  do  just  at  the 
time  when  we  want  them  for  this  very 
purpose,  would  be  sufficient  to  counter- 
act all  tendency  to  fever,  or  any  other 
disease  ?  I  am  encouraged  to  put  this 
question  because  I  have  known  individ- 
uals—  hard  laborers,  too  —  who  have 
made  the  experiment,  with  the  most  en- 
tire success.' 

Referring  again  to  the  proper  condi- 
tion of  the  fruits  for  the  table,  it  is  not 
enough  that  Gooseberries  or  Currants 
have  changed  their  color — there  ought 
to  be  developed  a  certain  sweetness  be- 
fore we  touch  them.  There  is  a  most 
surprising  difference  in  a  Currant  that 
is  merely  red,  and  one  which  is  dead 
ripe,  although  the  color  is  not  very  dif- 
ferent. Raspberries  when  ripe,  espe- 
cially the  red  and  the  white  kinds,  the 
fruits  of  which  are  almost  the  only  ones 
raised  in  California,  are  exceedingly 
wholesome  berries,  and  ought  to  be 
more  extensively  cultivated  than  the 
Currant  or  the  Gooseberiy.  They  are 
short  lived,  however;  for  there  are  only 
two  or  three  days  during  which  they  are 
perfect.  Eaten  sooner,  they  are  un- 
ripe; eaten  later  they  have  lost  much  of 
their  flavor.  This  remark,  to  the  truth 
of  which  almost  anybody  can  attest  in 
regard  to  Raspberries,  is  nearly  as  ap- 
plicable to  most  other  summer  fruits. 
None  of  them  are  in  perfection  long  at 
a  time.  One  is  ripe,  and  may  be  eaten 
moderately  with  perfect  safety — nay, 
even   with  much  advantage — for  a  few 


days;  then  comes  another  in  its  stead; 
and  so  on  through  the  summer.  Many 
suppose  they  produce  bowel  complaints; 
but  it  is  much  more  probable  that  if 
eaten  in  the  way  which  Providence  in- 
tended, they  act  as  a  preventive  of  dis- 
ease. The  Strawberry,  in  its  perfec- 
tion, lasts  a  little  longer  than  the  Rasp- 
berry, but  not  much."  They  lose  their 
flavor,  if  fully  ripe,  a  day  after  they  are 
picked.  One  thing  is  to  be  remember- 
ed, in  regard  to  all  fruits  whatever, 
that  however  ripe  and  excellent  they 
may  appear,  they  are  never  so  good 
when  raised  in  hot-houses  (as  they  are 
in  Europe  sometimes),  as  when  they 
ripen  in  the  sun,  as  nature  intended. 
Hot-houses  for  fruit,  however,  are  not 
at  all  necessary  in  our  California  cli- 
mate. 

Now  concerning  the  markets :  About 
the  10th  of  last  month  (June)  the  fol- 
lowing were  the  prices  of  fresh  fruits, 
dried  fruits,  and  vegetables : 

Apples,  Red  Astrachan,  $1  50  @  $2 
per  box;  Early  Harvest,  75c.  per  box. 
Pears,  Madeline,  75c.  @$1  00  per  box; 
Cooking,  25c.  per  basket.  Cherry 
Plums,  7c.  @  8c.  per  lb. ;  Cherries, 
choice,  15c.@25c;  common,  8c.@10c. 
per  lb.  Peaches,  $3 @$4  per  box.  Apri- 
cots, Royal,  $1@$1.50  per  box;  ditto, 
$1. 50@$2  per  basket.  Strawberries,  $12 
@$15  per  chest.  Raspberries,  20c.  @ 
25c.  per  lb.  Gooseberries  *  4c.  @5c.  per 
lb.  Blackberries,  20c.  @40c.  per  lb. 
Currants,  $3.50@$5  per  chest.  Figs, 
25c.@50c.  per  lb.  Oranges,  Tahiti, 
$30  per  M.  Lemons,  Sicily,  $12@$15 
per  box;  Los  Angeles,  $20  per  M. 
Limes,  $20  per  M.  Bananas,  $2. 50@$3 
per  bunch.  Pine  Apples,  $6  per  dozen. 
Cocoanuts,  $10  per  100.  Dried  Fruit- 
Apples  per  lb.  6c.@7c;  Peaches,  12§c.; 
Pears,  10c;  Plums,  5c.@6c. ;  pitted, 
15c.@16c. ;  Prunes,  12Jc;  Blackber- 
ries,  14c.@15c;    Figs,  white,  12|c.@ 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


227 


15c;  black,  6c.@8c;  California  Rai- 
sins, 8c.@12Jc.  Vegetables — Cabbages, 
l^c.@lfc.  per  lb.;  Cucumbers,  25c© 
75c  per  doz. ;  Asparagus,  4c@5c  per 
lb.;  Tomatoes,  $1.25  @  $1.50  per  box; 
Green  Corn,  12c ©20c  per  doz.;  Sum- 
mer Squash,  4c@6c  per  lb.;  Rhubarb, 
scarce,  3c@3^c  per  lb.;  Green  Peas, 
4Jc@5c  per  lb.;  Sweet  Peas,  6c; 
String  Beans,  10c@12^c;  Chile  Pep- 
pers, 50c;  Garlic,  4c  ©5c 

About  the  13th  of  last  month  (June) 
the  remarkable  and,  for  the  season, 
very  unusual  heavy  rain  (nearly  an  inch) 
interrupted  the  supply  of  many  varieties 
of  vegetables,  and  prices  were  higher  in 
consequence.  The  derangement,  how- 
ever, was  only  temporary,  and  in  the 
following  week  the  market  resumed  its 
normal  condition  again. 

The  receipts  of  Strawberries  have 
dwindled  to  a  score  of  chests  per  day, 
and  it  is  evident  that  the  trade  is  virtu- 
ally over  for  the  season.  The  first  were 
received  on  the  11th  of  March,  and 
brought  $2  per  lb.  Last  year  the  first 
came  to  hand  April  9th,  and  sold  for 
the  same  figures.  A.  Lusk  &  Co.  have 
furnished  the  Call  with  the  following 
statement  of  the  receipts  and  prices  for 
the  season: 

Chests.  Prices. 

March 2  50c@$2  00 

April 1.930  10c@$l  50 

May 10,860  5c@20c 

June,  to  date 710  10c@22%c 

Total 13,502 

Last  season  the  receipts  to  date 
amounted  to  19,705  chests,  and  the  av- 
erage of  prices  was  considerably  lower 
than  this  year.  The  decreased  supply 
this  season  is  greater  than  tlQ.  above 
statement  indicates,  as  nearly  all  the 
chests  this  year  hold  but  80  lbs.,  while 
last  year  the  bulk  of  those  used  held 
96  lbs.  The  falling  off  in  the  quantity 
is  generally  attributed  to  the  heavy  frost 
in  April.     The  heaviest  receipts  for  a 


day  were  704  chests,  and  the  next  heav- 
iest 561  chests.  '  Almost  the  entire  crop 
arrived  in  May;  still  there  was  no  actu- 
al glut  of  the  market  and  no  very  cheajJ 
berries,  the  lowest  figure  being  84  per 
chest.  Almost  the  whole  supply,  as 
usual,  came  from  Santa  Clara  Valley, 
and  the  cultivators  have  received  for 
them  not  less  than  §150,000. 

Cherries,  Apricots,  and  Currants  were 
very  plentiful,  and  lower  than  at  any 
previous  time  during  the  season.  June 
Plums  were  again  in  market,  and  re- 
tailed at  10c@15c  The  last  of  the 
Cherry  Plums  were  received.  The  sup- 
ply of  Peaches  was  still  light,  and  did 
not  increase  until  the  Hale's  Early  and 
Tillotson  came  in.  Figs  came  forward 
regularly,  but  were  too  dear  to  come 
into  general  use.  Early  Harvest  and 
Red  Astrachan  Apples  were  quite  plen- 
tiful, and  retailed  at  $1.25  to  $2  per 
box,  delivered. 

About  the  26th  of  last  month  (June) 
fruit  was  plentiful.  Cherries  were  nev- 
er more  plentiful;  Watermelons,  Canta- 
loupes, Nectarines,  and  Bartlett  Pears 
have  been  added  to  the  many  other 
seasonable  fruits,  but  only  in  small 
quantities,  and  brought  fancy  prices. 
Rhubarb  met  with  no  favor,  and  was  al- 
most entirely  unsalable,  owing  to  the 
abundance  of  fruit.  A  few  Grapes  ar- 
rived during  the  last  week  of  June,  but 
being  sour  and  of  poor  quality  were  not 
sought  after.  The  display  of  Plums 
was  much  improved.  The  Peach  Plum 
was  the  best,  and  sold  for  the  highest 
price.  The  rain  in  June  somewhat  in- 
jured the  Cherries,  and  they  sold  for 
low  prices.  Currants  were  very  j)lenti- 
ful,  and  nearly  as  low  as  last  year.  The 
consumption  by  the  canners  is  immense, 
but  they  can  not  take  the  whole  sur- 
plus, and  prices  continue  to  weaken. 

Alameda  County  has  furnished  the 
bulk  of  Cherries  this  season.     It  is  re- 


228 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


ported  that  Apricots,  Peaches,  and  Al- 
monds are  about  a  total  failure  this  year 
in  Napa  County,  and  the  same  applies 
to  Alameda  County.  Prior  to  the  heavy 
frosts,  Mr.  Meek,  of  Alameda,  had  fifty 
acres  of  Almonds,  the  trees  all  being 
loaded  with  nuts;  but  the  crop  -will 
turn  out  miserably  small.  For  a  week 
past  Alameda  County  has  been  turning 
in  about  forty  chests  of  Cherries  daily 
to  the  canning  factories,  until  the  latter 
have  become  surfeited.  Pleasant  Val- 
ley, Solano  County,  has  thus  far  sup- 
plied this  market  with  the  bulk  of  Apri- 
cots, that  section  having  the  largest 
crop  ever  known  here.  A  few  Apricots 
have  within  the  past  week  been  received 
from  the  Sacramento  River  orchards. 
Apples  are  in  abundance,  and  so  are 
Currants. 

The  Strawberry  crop  was  a  great  fail- 
ure this  year,  owing  to  the  nipping 
frosts.  The  opinion  seems  to  prevail 
that  the  wells  in  Santa  Clara  County  are 
gradually  giving  out,  which  necessarily 
interrupts  irrigation.  And  the  plants 
have  been  propagated  so  long  that  they 
are  nearly  worked  out,  and  a  new  vari- 
ety will  have  to  be  obtained.  Seven 
years  ago  Longworth's  variety  was  set 
out,  and  from  that  kind  they  have  been 
propagating  ever  since.  The  land  is 
giving  out,  because  in  irrigating  it  the 
nutriment  is  being  continually  washed 
away  by  the  running  streams  which  are 
distributed  over  it.  This  nutriment,  the 
very  life  of  the  berry,  is  not  replaced  by 
any  artificial  stimulant,  and,  conse- 
quently, the  fruit  is  sadly  deteriorating. 
The  early  Peaches  have  been  very  good, 
and  quite  juicy  this  year.  The  earliest 
were  Hale's  Early.  The  supply  the  last 
of  June  was  becoming  plentiful. 


It  is  stated  that  fowls  kept  in  .or- 
chards will  destroy  every  insect  that 
can  injure  the  fruit. 


<&&\tivM  ®Ummq$. 


Fokest  Conservatories.  —  In  a  con- 
cluding chapter  of  Woods  and  By-ways 
of  New  England,  Wilson  Flagg  advo- 
cates the  reservation  of  tracts  of  three 
or  four  miles  square  in  different  parts 
of  the  country,  on  land  not  valuable  for 
agricultural  purposes,  whose  primitive 
wildness,  with  all  its  vegetable  and  an- 
imal life,  should  be  preserved  with  as 
little  invasion  of  art  as  possible,  as  per- 
petual conservatories  of  the  wild  ani- 
mals and  plants  that  to  a  great  extent 
have  disappeared  before  the  invasion  of 
civilized  men  and  the  clearings  and  cul- 
tivation of  agriculture.  It  is  an  idea 
that  seems  to  us  worthy  of  more  thought 
than  has  been  bestowed  upon  it  by  the 
casual  reader.  The  cost  of  purchasing 
waste  lands  of  little  value,  and  securing 
their  protection  by  law  and  public  opin- 
ion against  the  small-bird  hunter  and 
the  not  less  destructive  hunter  of  hoop- 
poles,  axe-handle  timber,  etc.,  would 
be  nearly  all  that  would  be  necessary  to 
success.  It  would  require  no  costly 
fences,  roads,  drive -ways,  or  water- 
works, like  the  modern  park.  To  let 
it  alone  and  allow  primeval  nature  to 
assert  its  sway  would  be  the  one  thing 
needful.  As  a  woodland  haunt  for 
school-children,  for  the  naturalist  and 
the  lover  of  nature  of  all  ages,  such  a 
place  would  make  a  most  attractive  re- 
sort, and  would  be  useful  in  many  ways. 


An  Ornamental  Gourd.— An  exceed- 
ingly graceful  plant  is  a  miniature  gourd, 
the  seeds  of  which  were  brought  from 
Africa  to  Europe  by  Sir  Samuel  Baker, 
who  states  that  the  plant  when  in  a  wild 
condition  covers  dwarf  trees  and  shrubs 
with  its  slender  climbing  shoots,  which 
in  a  young  state  are  bright  green  striped 
and  spotted  with  white,  but  which  when 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


229 


ripe  change  to  scarlet,  a  color  that  sets 
off  the  white  spots  and  pencilings  to 
increased  advantage.  The  fruits  are  in 
clusters  of  three  or  four  together.  The 
foliage,  being  of  a  distinct  shade  of 
green,  renders  the  plant  effective  even 
when  not  in  fruit.  It  has  been  grown 
in  a  melon-house,  in  which  it  quickly 
covered  a  large  trellis,  and  became  load- 
ed with  fruits  which,  were  it  not  for 
their  white  marblings,  might  easily  be 
mistaken  for  those  of  Solanum  capsicas- 
trum.  Some  of  the  African  tribes  use 
the  long  slender  shoots  of  this  gourd 
for  garlands  and  head-dresses,  purposes 
for  which  its  habit  of  growth  eminently 
fits  it.  Long  festoons  of  it,  laden  with 
fruit,  might  be  usefully  employed  for 
garnishing  stands  on  the  dinner-table, 
or  the  sprays  of  crimson  fruit  might  be 
allowed  to  hang  naturally  and  graceful- 
ly from  the  margins  of  ornamental  va- 
ses. Gourds  of  this  description,  says  a 
correspondent  of  the  English  Garden, 
well  deserve  more  attention  than  they 
have  hitherto  had. 


The  Potato-bug. — The  French  min- 
ister, alarmed  at  the  progress  of  the 
Colorado  beetle  or  Potato-bug,  has  fol- 
lowed in  the  footsteps  of  other  foreign 
ministers,  and  asked  a  full  description 
and  how  to  kill  it.  The  only  remedy 
thus  far  found  is  Paris  green,  and  the 
evidences  all  go  to  show  that  it  kills  the 
bug  and  does  not  injure  the  tubers  or 
Potatoes.  Several  countries  have  pro- 
hibited the  importation  of  Potatoes  from 
the  United  States;  but  this  is  folly,  for 
the  bug  clings  to  the  vine,  destroying 
the  vitality  of  the  plant,  but  does  not 
go  to  the  tuber.  It  would  be  exported 
in  hay  more  quickly  than  in  Potatoes. 
The  insect  has  been  known  for  over  fif- 
ty years,  and  has  been  injurious  to  the 
cultivated  Potato  since  1860,  when  it 


commenced  its  travels  eastward  from 
the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
has  been  steadily  progressing  since  at 
the  rate  of  sixty  to  eighty  miles  a  year. 
It  is  now  reported  as  destructive  in  cen- 
tral New  York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jer- 
sey, Maryland,  District  of  Columbia, 
and  eastern  Virginia. 


The  Rose  and  the  Vine. — California 
is  the  natural  habitat  of  the  Rose  and 
the  vine.  In  no  part  of  the  world  do 
they  make  such  a  luxuriant  growth. 
The  amount  of  wood  which  each  will 
annually  produce  exceeds  many  times 
over  the  original  weight.  To  produce 
Grapes  in  perfection  an  annual  system 
of  pruning  must  be  adopted.  To  pro- 
duce the  finest  and  most  perfect  Roses 
the  knife  must  be  applied  freely  every 
spring.  To  neglect  this,  even  for  a 
single  season,  is  to  ruin  the  crop,  at 
least  for  a  year.  By  close  pruning  a 
vine  may  be  made  to  produce  Grapes  of 
enormous  size,  and  the  same  treatment 
will  also  double  the  magnitude  of  Ro- 
ses. This  may  be  worth  knowing,  es- 
pecially by  those  who  wish  to  make  a 
handsome  display  upon  a  limited  plat 
of  ground.      

Experimenting  with  Potatoes.  —  Po- 
tatoes grown  to  perfection  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  without  being  cov- 
ered with  soil,  may  not  have  been  intro- 
duced into  other  markets,  but  Captain 
R.  K.  Porter  has  placed  us  under 
obligations  for  a  bag  of  large,  smooth, 
red  Potatoes  raised  on  his  place  by  sim- 
ply planting  on  th^e  top  of  the  ground 
and  covering  to  the  thickness  of  a  foot 
with  straw.  They  are  entirely  free  of 
all  the  diseases  and  imperfections  found 
in  most  of  the  Potatoes  sold  in  the  mar- 
kets for  several  years  past,  and,  when 
boiled,  they  are  white  and  mealy,  and 


230 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


have  no  strong  taste  whatever.  "Wheth- 
er this  experiment  will  prove  successful 
on  all  other  farms,  we  can  not  say;  but 
it  would  "be  well  for  those  who  have 
abundance  of  straw  to  make  the  trial. — 
San  Diego  Union. 


Value  of  Sumac. — The  Ohio  Farmer 
through  a  correspondent  says:  "An  acre 
in  full  bearing  will  produce  about  three 
tons,  and  if  well  prepared,  is  worth  $80 
to  $100  per  ton.  Curers  pay  about  one 
cent  per  pound  for  green  sumac.  It  is 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  the  finer 
kinds  of  leather — esjoecially  morocco 
and  similar  goods,  and  is  also  employed 
as  a  dye  in  coloring  calicoes  and  de- 
laines. Twenty  thousand  tons  are  used 
annually  in  the  country,  two-thirds  of 
which  comes  from  Sicily.  Mr.  W. 
Johnson,  East  Saginaw,  Michigan,  may 
furnish  additional  information,  or  any 
reader  who  can  is  invited  to  do  so. 


Hot  "Water  for  Insects.  The  Rural 
Carolinian  adds  its  testimony  to  that  of 
the  Gardener's  Monthly  in  favor  of  the 
safety  of  the  use  of  water  at  a  tempera- 
ture of  120°  for  killing  insects  on  plants. 
The  plants  must  be  quickly  immersed, 
and  taken  out  again  as  speedily  as  pos- 
sible, and  the  water  must  be  no  hotter 
than  the  temperature  mentioned.  Some 
insects  would  not  care  for  this  dipping, 
but  many  would  be  killed. 


The  Papaw  or  "forbidden  fruit" 
grows  to  the  weight  of  three  pounds  or 
more  in  Florida.  It  is  of  a  light  yellow 
color  when  ripe,  and  has  a  flavor  simi- 
lar to  a  Muskmelon.  The  juices  of  this 
tree  tend  to  separate  the  fibres  in  meats 
when  immersed  therein,  and  the .  vapor 
of  the  tree  answers  the  same  purpose. 
The  toughest  joints  of  meat,  poultry, 


etc.,  are  rendered  tender  by  being  hung 
among  the  branches.  The  milky  juice 
is  the  best  known  vermifuge,  and  a  sin- 
gle dose  of  the  juice  of  the  unripe  fruit 
or  of  the  powdered  seeds  of  the  ripe 
fruit  will  extirpate  every  worm  from  a 
patient. 

The  Garden  of  China.-— The  China- 
men— who  walk  over  bridges  built  two 
thousand  years  ago,  who  cultivated  the 
Cotton-plant  centuries  before  this  coun- 
try was  heard  of,  and  who  fed  silk- 
worms before  King  Solomon  built  his 
throne  —  have  fifty  thousand  square 
miles  around  Shanghai  which  are  called 
the  Garden  of  China,  and  which  have 
been  tilled  by  countless  generations. 
This  area  is  as  large  as  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  combined,  and  is  all 
meadow,  and  raised  but  a  few  feet 
above  the  river — lakes,  rivers,  canals — 
a  complete  network  of  water  communi- 
cation; the  land  under  the  highest 
tilth;  three  crops  a  year  harvested; 
population  so  dense  that  wherever  you 
look  you  see  men  and  women  in  blue 
pants  and  blouses,  so  numerous  that 
you  fancy  some  fair  or  muster  is  coming 
off  and  all  hands  have  turned  out  for  a 
holiday. 

Eed  Thornless  Easpberry.  —  M.  J. 
Stearns,  in  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  says: 
"  This  berry  has  been  tested  beside  all 
the  popular  varieties  of  the  day,  and 
found  to  have  a  decided  advantage  over 
all  others;  it  is  perfectly  thornless;  it  is 
perfectly  hardy;  subject  to  no  disease 
of  any  kind.  It  stands  the  cold  of 
winter  and  the  heat  of  summer  better 
than  any  other.  Bears  indifferent  cult- 
ure better  than  any  that  I  am  acquaint- 
ed with.  A  prolific  bearer;  berry  very 
large,  sweet,  and  delicious;  in  quality 
excelled  by  none,  and  a  very  vigorous 
grower. 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


231 


A  White  Eose  on  an  Apple-tree. — 
The  Beading-  Eagle  says:  "  On  the 
premises  of  N.  F.  Bechtel,  Perkiomen 
Avenue  and  Franklin  Street,  is  to  be 
seen  one  of  the  most  remarkable  curios- 
ities ever  heard  of,  of  the  kind.  A 
large  Crab  Apple-tree  is  growing  in  the 
yard,  and  on  the  top  of  the  tree  is 
blooming  a  pure  white  Bose.  The 
Bose-stem,  which  is  growing  from  the 
Apple-branch,  is  over  two  years  old,  as 
it  has  already  bloomed  two  years.  The 
flower  can  be  best  seen  from  the  second 
story  of  the  house.  Health  Commis- 
sioner Miller  says  it  is  one  of  the  great- 
est curiosities  he  has  ever  seen." 


Improved  Gum  Arabic  Mucilage. — A 
serious  objection  to  the  use  of  gum 
arabic  as  an  adhesive,  is  found  in  its 
showing  through  unsized  paper,  and 
thus  producing  a  semi-transparent  blot. 
This  is  also  attended  with  the  still 
greater  inconvenience  that  the  two 
layers  do  not  stick  together  satisfac- 
torily. On  this  account  gum  arabic 
mucilage  can  not  be  used  for  attaching 
paper  to  pasteboard,  nor  wood  to  wood, 
nor  one  metallic  substance  to  another, 
since  the  gum  soon  peels  off.  All  this 
inconvenience  may  be  remedied,  it  is 
said,  by  adding  to  the  gum  a  solution 
of  sulphate  of  alumina ;  two  parts  of 
crystalized  sulphate  of  alumina  answer- 
ing for  one  hundred  and  twenty  five 
parts  of  the  concentrated  solution  of 
gum  arabic,  in  the  proportion  of  two 
parts  of  gum  to  five  of  water.  The  salt 
is  to  be  dissolved  in  ten  times  its 
weight  of  water,  and  the  solution  mixed 
direct  with  that  of  the  gum  solution, 
which  in  this  condition  well  deserves 
its  name  of  vegetable  glue.  A  solution 
of  alum  replaces  the  sulphate  of  alum- 
ina, but  to  a  much  less  satisfactory 
degree. 


The  Sense  of  Smell  in  Insects. — En- 
tomologists maintain  that  scent  is  very 
delicate  in  most  insects,  and  rely  on 
plausible  conjectures  on  this  subject ; 
but  they  do  not  as  yet  know  what  the 
seat  of  smell  in  insects  is.  "When  meat 
is  exposed  to  the  air  in  a  few  moments 
flies  make  their  appearance  in  a  place 
where  none  before  had  been  seen.  If 
refuse  matter  or  bodies  of  animals  are 
left  on  the  ground,  insects  flock  to 
them  at  once,  feeding  on  such  sub- 
stances and  depositing  their  eggs  in 
them.  Scent  alone  seems  to  guide 
them,  exclusively  of  sight  even,  for,  if 
the  object  of  their  desire  is  hidden, 
they  easily  manage  to  find  it.  A  curious 
fact  as  to  the  scent  of  insects  is  fur- 
nished by  those  kinds  that  prefer  decay- 
ing substances.  A  beautiful  Arum  is 
found  in  our  woods,  the  Cuckoo-pintle, 
whose  white  flower  diffuses  a  disgusting 
odor.  Now,  the  inside  of  this  flower 
is  often  filled  with  flies,  snails,  and 
plant  lice,  seeking  the  putrid  source  of 
this  fetid  smell.  We  may  see  the  little 
creatures,  in  quest  of  their  food  or  of  a 
fit  place  to  lay  their  eggs,  move  about 
in  all  directions,  and  quit  most  unwill- 
ingly the  flower  whose  scent  had  misled 
them. — Popular  Science  Monthly  for  De- 
cember. 

Cutting  Flowers. — Never  cut  flowers 
during  intense  sunshine,  nor  keep  them 
exposed  to  the  sun  or  wind.  Do  not 
collect  them  in  a  large  bundle,  or  tie 
them  together,  as  this  hastens  their  de- 
cay. Do  not  pull  them,  but  cut  them 
cleanly  off  the  plant  with  a  sharp  knife 
— not  with  scissors.  When  taken  in- 
doors, place  them  in  the  shade,  and  re- 
duce them  to  the  required  length  of 
stalk  with  a  knife,  by  which  the  tubes, 
through  which  they  draw  up  water,  re- 
main smooth  and  open,  and  the  water  is 
permitted  to  ascend  freely;   whereas, 


232 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


if  the  stems  are  bruised  or  lacerated, 
the  pores  are  closed  up.  Use  pure 
water  to  set  them,  or  pure  -white  sand 
in  a  state  of  saturation,  sticking  the 
ends  of  the  stalks  into  it,  but  not  in  a 
crowded  manner.  If  in  water  alone,  it 
ought  to  be  changed  daily ,  and  a  thin 
slice  should  be  cut  off  the  ends  of  the 
stalks  at  every  change  of  water. 


Fruiting  Seedlings. — As  testing  seed- 
ling fruits  in  the  West  is  growing  in 
favor  more  and  more  every  year,  I  will 
give  my  method  of  testing  Apple-seed- 
lings. Select  the  best  specimens  of 
any  desirable  variety,  and  plant  the 
seed  in  a  drill.  Cultivate  well  one 
year ;  then  take  one  graft  from  each 
seedling  and  insert  in  the  head  of  an 
Apple-tree  five  or  six  years  old,  placing 
the  grafts  on  the  outer  ends  of  the 
branches  to  give  them  an  equal  chance. 
In  this  way  I  have  grafted  fifty- three 
different  varieties  in  one  small  tree. 
Never  use  Rawles'  Janet  for  a  stock, 
on  account  of  blight.  The  seedlings, 
after  using  a  portion  of  the  tops  for 
grafts,  may  be  used  as  stocks  on  which 
to  graft  well-tested  varieties.  Other 
fruits  may  be  tested  in  a  similar  way, 
some  by  budding  and  some  by  graft- 
ing.— T.  B.,  ML  Carmel,  111. 


Tule  Roots  as  Food. — The  San  Fran- 
cisco Chronicle  says:  "A  new  Cali- 
fornia edible  has  been  discovered  by 
the  patient  gastronomic  researches  and 
fearless  experiments  of  some  of  our 
Chinese  population.  The  Colusa  Sun 
says  that  two  tons  of  tule  roots  were 
shipped  from  that  place  to  San  Fran- 
cisco last  week,  the  consignors  and  con- 
signees being  Chinamen.  The  Mon- 
golians declare  them  excellent  and  nu- 
tritious as  an  article  of  food,  and  that 


a  good  market  can  be  found  for  them 
at  six  cents  per  pound.  If  this  state- 
ment is  reliable,  a  tule  swamp  will 
be  a  more  valuable  possession  than  a 
wheat  field  of  similar  dimensions,  and 
the  business  of  reclaiming  swamp-lands 
may  as  well  be  given  up." 


A  Giant  Pelargonium. — A  short  time 
previous  to  the  death  of  Mr.  F.  Butler, 
of  Brooklyn  (Feb.  19,  1874),  we  noted 
one  of  the  old  red  double  Pelargoniums 
growing  from  the  earth  of  his  green- 
house, that  was  ten  feet  high,  and 
measured  between  five  and  six  inches 
in  circumference  at  its  base.  It  was 
five  years  old,  perfectly  healthy  and 
vigorous,  full  of  buds  and  blossoms, 
and  seemed  to  aspire  to  rank  ultimately 
among  trees  of  the  second  class. 


METEOROLOGICAL    RECORD, 

Foe  the  Month  ending  June  30,  1875. 

(Prepared  for  The  Horticulturist  by  Thos.  Tennent, 
Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No. 
423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office) . 

BABOMETEK. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.06  in. 

do  12m 30.07 

do  3  p.  m 30.06 

do  6p.m 30.06 

Highest  point  on  the  19th,  at  12  m 30.22 

Lowest  point  on  the  15th,  at  9  a.  m 29.92 

THEBMOMETEB. 
(  With  north  exposure  and  free,  from  reflected  heat.) 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 64° 

do  12  m 6&J 

do  3  p.  m 66° 

do  6  P.  m 63° 

Highest  point  on  the  4th,  at  12  m 82c 

Lowest  point  on  the  29th,  at  9  a.  m 54° 

SELF  -  BEGISTEEING    THEKMOMETEE . 

Mean  height  during  the  night 51° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  15th 57° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  3d 46° 

WINDS. 

North  and  north-east  on  6  days ;  north-west  and  west 
on  18  days;  south-west  on  6  days. 

WEATHEE. 

Clear  on  16  days;  cloudy  on  7  days;  variable  on  7  days; 
rain  on  3  days. 

BAIN   GAUGE. 

13th 0.10 

15th 0.67 

16th 0.24 

Total 1-01 

Total  Rain  of  the  season  to  date 18.40 

Sharp  earthquake  shock  on  the  18th  at  3.35  a.m.;  du- 
ration 3  seconds,  direction  south-east  and  north-west. 


THE 


llfllllfllllt 
AND    FLORAL   MAGAZINE, 


Vol.  V.  SAN   FRANCISCO,  AUGUST,    1875.  No.  8. 


EOSE-CULTUEE. 


BY   F.   A.    MILLEE. 


Certainly  no  garden  is  complete  with- 
out a  fair  collection  of  the  ever  popular 
Eoses,  and  no  class  of  plants  gives  more 
general  satisfaction  than  the  Rose,  wher- 
ever its  cultivation  is  practicable.  The 
fact  that  mildew  in  its  worst  form  has 
for  some  years  infested  our  Roses  to  an 
alarming  extent,  has  disappointed  the 
amateur  as  well  as  the  nurseryman  so 
severely,  that  the  culture  of  this  beauti- 
ful shrub  has  received  quite  a  check. 
In  view  of  this  great  evil,  we  should 
make  it  a  particular  point  to  look  into 
the  causes  of  this  pest,  and  for  remedies 
which  may  restore  to  us  the  most  prom- 
inent feature  in  our  gardens,  healthy 
and  vigorous  Roses,  such  as  we  used  to 
see  in  earlier  days. 

California  is  well  known  for  its  warm 
and  genial  climate  during  day-time,  but 
also  for  its  cool  nights;  and  it  is  of  fre- 
quent occurrence  that  the  temperature 
changes  from  80°  or  100°  in  the  day- 
time, to  40°  or  50°  at  night,  and  on  the 
immediate  coast  the  temperature  fre- 
quently falls  to  35°  during  the  night; 
the  change  taking  place  very  suddenly. 
This,  no   doubt,  is  the  main   cause  of 

Vol.  V.— 25. 


mildew.  Our  usual  summer  fogs,  re- 
ducing sunshine  often  to  but  three  or 
four  hours  during  the  day,  encourages 
mildew  amazingly,  and  sprinkling  the 
foliage  during  bright  sunshine  delivers 
us  up  completely  to  our  enemy. 

Now,  if  the  natural  conditions  of  our 
climate  are  producing  the  evil  we  may 
consider  ourselves  always  subject  to  it, 
and  all  we  can  do  is  to  apply  from  time 
to  time  such  remedies  as  have  been  sug- 
gested from  experience,  and  also  to  con- 
fine ourselves  more  to  the  cultivation  of 
such  varieties  as  are  least  attacked  by 
mildew.  But  it  seems  strange  that 
young  plants  are  much  less  affected 
than  old  and  well  -  established  plants, 
and  cuttings  of  the  present  season 
seem  to  keep  clear  of  the  intruder.  It 
is  also  a  matter  of  fact  that  Roses  in  a 
very  light  and  sandy  soil  have  suffered 
far  less  than  those  grown  in  heavy  soil. 
Light  soils  being  warmer  than  heavy 
soils,  the  difference  between  the  bottom 
temperature  and  the  atmospheric  tem- 
perature is  much  greater  upon  heavy  soil 
than  upon  light  soil  during  bright  days. 
Evidently  the  activity  of  plant-life  is 
greatly  assisted  if  the  bottom  tempera- 
ture is  equal  to  or  in  excess  of  the  at- 
mospheric temperature;  while  under  re- 


234 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


verse  conditions  the  activity  is  subject 
to  a  severe  check,  apt  to  he  followed  by 
an  attack  of  mildew.  I  would  suggest, 
therefore,  that  Roses  be  cultivated  in 
light  sandy  soils  so  far  as  practicable, 
and  when  it  does  not  exist  in  the  natu- 
ral condition,  an  effort  be  made  to  pre- 
pare the  soil  for  Roses.  And  I  would 
further  suggest,  to  dig  up  old  plants 
which  have  been  most  severely  attacked 
by  mildew,  to  give  the  roots  a  thorough 
cleaning  with  weak  Tobacco -water,  to 
cut  back  roots  as  well  as  top,  and  to  re- 
move the  soil  in  which  the  plants  were 
growing  and  replace  it  by  fresh  soil  of 
the  nature  above  referred  to. 

During  my  recent  visit  to  the  Eastern 
States  I  was  very  much  pleased  with  the 
success  florists  have  attained  there  in 
the  culture  of  Roses  under  glass.  Those 
most  successful  keep  up  a  temperature 
of  60°  to  70°  during  the  winter  season, 
give  all  the  light  and  sun  possible, 
avoid  in  particular  ventilation  which 
may  be  apt  to  produce  draught  or  chill, 
and  endeavor  to  equalize  the  tempera- 
ture as  much  as  artificial  heating  can 
do  it.  The  best  Roses  and  in  the  health- 
iest condition  1  observed  were  where 
the  temperature  was  kept  at  70°.  For 
cut-flowers  only  a  very  few  varieties  are 
cultivated  successfully,  namely,  Sofra- 
no,  Bon  Silene,  Isabella  Sprunt,  Bella, 
Marechal  Niel,  and  Lamarque.  The 
buds  produced  under  this  treatment  are 
exquisite  and  numerous,  and  ninety  per 
cent,  of  the  entire  cut-flower  trade  seems 
to  be  made  up  of  these  Roses. 

Some  of  our  practical  florists  on  this 
coast  seem  to  think  that  the  cultivation 
of  Roses  under  glass  in  this  climate  is 
impracticable,  and  one  of  them  has  pro- 
nounced it  impossible.  For  such  an  as- 
sertion there  is  no  good  reason.  If  we 
provide  for  the  same  conditions  as  the 
growers  in  the  East  have  done,  we  will 
surely  meet  with  the  same  result.     I 


can  much  easier  keep  mildew  from  Ro- 
ses under  glass,  than  from  Roses  grown 
in  the  open  air.  The  climatic  condi- 
tions of  a  greenhouse  we  can  control, 
while  those  of  the  open  air  we  can  not. 

[To  be  Continued.] 


A  CANNIBAL  TEEE. 

If  you  can  imagine  a  Pine -apple, 
eight  feet  high  and  thick  in  proportion, 
resting  upon  its  base,  and  denuded  of 
leaves,  you  will  have  a  good  idea  of  the 
trunk  of  the  tree,  which,  however,  was 
not  the  color  of  an  Anana,  but  was  a 
dark  dingy  brown,  and  apparently  as 
hard  as  iron.  From  the  apex  of  this 
frustated  cone  (at  least  two  feet  in  di- 
ameter) eight  huge  leaves  fall  sheer  to 
the  ground,  like  doors  swinging  back  on 
hinges.  These  leaves,  which  are  joined 
at  the  top  of  the  trees  at  regular  inter- 
vals, were  about  eleven  or  twelve  feet 
long,  and  shaped  very  much  like  the 
leaves  of  an  American  Agave  or  Century 
Plant.  They  are  two  feet  through  in 
their  thickest  part  and  three  feet  wide, 
tapering  to  a  sharp  point  that  looks 
very  much  like  a  cow's  horn,  very  con- 
vex on  the  outer  (but  not  under)  sur- 
face, and  on  the  under  (now  upper)  sur- 
face slightly  concave.  This  concave  sur- 
face was  thickly  set  with  strong  thorny 
hooks  like  those  upon  the  head  of  a  tea- 
zle. These  leaves,  hanging  thus  limp 
and  lifeless,  dead  green  in  color,  had  in 
appearance  the  massive  strength  of  oak 
fibre.  The  apex  of  the  cone  was  a  round 
concave  figure  like  a  smaller  plate  set 
within  a  larger  one.  This  was  not  a 
flower,  but  a  receptacle,  and  there  ex- 
uded into  it  a  clear  treacly  liquid,  honey 
sweet  and  possessed  of  violent  intoxi- 
cating and  soporific  properties.  From 
underneath  the  rim  (so  to  speak)  of  the 
undermost  plate,  a  series  of  long,  hairy, 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


235 


green  tendrils  stretched  out  in  every 
direction  toward  the  horizon.  These 
were  seven  or  eight  feet  long,  and  ta- 
pered from  four  inches  to  half  an  inch 
in  diameter,  yet  they  stretched  out  stiff- 
ly as  iron  rods.  Above  these  (from  be- 
tween the  upper  and  under  cup)  six 
white  almost  transparent  palpi  reared 
themselves  toward  the  sky,  twirling  and 
twisting  with  marvelous  incessant  mo- 
tion, yet  constantly  reaching  upward. 
Thin  as  reeds  and  frail  as  quills,  ap- 
parently, they  were  five  or  six  feet  tall, 
and  were  so  constantly  and  vigorously 
in  motion,  with  such  a  subtle,  sinuous, 
silent  throbbing  against  the  air  that  they 
gave  suggestions  of  serpents  flayed,  yet 
dancing  on  then  tails.  My  observations 
on  this  occasion  were  suddenly  inter- 
rupted by  the  natives  who  had  been 
shrieking  around  the  tree  with  their 
shrill  voices,  and  chanting  what  Hen- 
drick  told  me  were  propitiatory  hymns 
to  the  great  tree-devil.  With  still  wild- 
er shrieks  and  chants  they  now  sur- 
rounded one  of  the  women,  and  urged 
her  with  the  points  of  their  javelins,  un- 
til slowly  and  with  despairing  face  she 
climbed  up  the  stalk  of  the  tree,  and 
stood  on  the  summit  of  the  cone,  the 
palpi  swirling  all  about  her.  "Tsik! 
Tsik!"  (Drink!  Drink!)  cried  the  men. 
Stooping,  she  drank  of  the  viscid  fluid 
in  the  cup,  rising  instantly  again,  with 
wild  frenzy  in  her  face,  and  convulsive 
cords  in  her  limbs.  But  she  did  not 
jump  down,  as  she  seemed  to  intend  to 
do.  O,  no!  The  atrocious  cannibal- 
tree,  that  had  been  so  inert  and  dead, 
came  to  sudden  savage  life.  The  deli- 
cate palpi,  with  the  fury  of  starved  ser- 
pents, quivered  a  moment  over  her  head, 
and  then,  as  if  instinct  with  demoniac 
intelligence,  fastened  upon  her  in  sud- 
den coils  round  and  round  her  neck  and 
arms,  and  while  her  awful  screams  and 
yet  more  awful  laughter  rose  wildly  to 


be  instantly  strangled  down  again  into 
a  gurgling  moan,  the  tendinis,  one  after 
another,  like  great  green  serpents,  with 
brutal  energy  and  infernal  rapidity, 
rose,  protracted  themselves,  and  wrap- 
ped her  about  in  fold  after  fold,  ever 
tightening  with  the  swiftness  and  sav- 
age tenacity  of  anacondas  fastening  up- 
on their  j>rey. 

It  was  the  barbarity  of  the  Laocoon 
without  its  beauty — this  strange,  horri- 
ble murder.  And  now  the  great  leaves 
rose  slowly  and  stiffly,  like  the  arms  of 
a  derrick,  erected  themselves  in  the  air, 
approached  one  another,  and  closed 
about  the  dead  and  hampered  victim 
with  the  silent  force  of  a  hydraulic 
press  and  the  ruthlessness  of  a  thumb- 
screw. A  moment  more,  and  while  I 
could  see  the  bases  of  these  great  levers 
pressing  more  tightly  toward  each  oth- 
er, 'from  their  interstices  there  trickled 
down  the  stalk  of  the  tree  great  streams 
of  the  viscid  honey  -  like  fluid,  mingled 
horribly  with  the  blood  and  oozing  vis- 
cera of  the  victim.  At  sight  of  this  the 
savage  hordes  around  me,  yelling  mad- 
ly, bounded  forward,  crowded  to  the 
tree,  clasped  it,  and  with  cups,  leaves, 
hands,  or  tongues,  each  one  obtained 
enough  of  the  liquid  to  send  him  mad 
and  frantic. — Dr.  Jay,  in  the  South  Aus- 
tralian Register. 


Caufoknia  consumes  10,000,000  Or- 
anges per  annum,  or  about  eighteen 
apiece  to  each  man,  woman,  and  child 
in  the  State.  There  are  of  course  some 
who  far  exceed  that  figure,  and  many 
who  never  taste  an  Orange  from  the  1st 
of  January  to  the  31st  of  December;  but 
eighteen  is  the  average.  Of  the  10,000,- 
000  Oranges  consumed  over  fifty  per 
cent,  now  come  from  Los  Angeles  and 
the  other  southern  counties  of  the  State ; 
and  the  supply  from  that  source  is  con- 
stantly increasing. 


236 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


TEOLLING    FOB    SALMON    IN    EIVEES 
OE  LAKES,  ETC. 


BY   E.   J.   HOOPEE. 


Next  to  the  use  of  the  artificial  fly, 
trolling  with  the  spinning  spoon-bait  is 
the  most  exciting,  sportsmanlike,  and 
successful  method  of  killing  salmon. 
Spoon  trolling  may  be  practiced  the 
whole  season,  especially  in  early  morn- 
ing, and  is  capital  exercise  from  the 
bank  or  rocks,  both  for  body  and  arm, 
for  the  latter  is  kept  in  full  play,  and 
the  former  moving  on  at  times,  while 
the  bait  is  in  a  continual  spin  or  troll. 
The  great  advantage  of  trolling  with  the 
spoon  is,  that  it  may  be  very  successful- 
ly practiced  at  those  periods  when  the 
water  from  recent  rains  is  unfit  for  the 
fly.  This  I  found  to  be  the  case  below 
the  junction  of  the  Butenor  and  Pesca- 
dero  Creeks,  about  a  mile  from  the 
ocean,  last  November.  "When  the  tide 
was  running  either  in  or  out  the  strong- 
est, I  found  it  the  best  for  the  purpose. 
This  I  did  with  good  effect  when  the 
water  was  quite  dark  after  a  flood,  or 
when  discolored  from  any  other  cause. 
It  is  not  only  a  destructive  bait  in  thick 
or  discolored,  but  more  so  in  clear  wa- 
ter, and  on  the  brightest  days.  At 
such  times  it  is  a  very  exciting  sport, 
because  you  can  often  in  clear  water 
see  your  fish  as  he  rises  to  take  it,  as 
well  as  sometimes  others  following  him. 
I  prefer  one  or  two  hooks  only  attach- 
ed to  the  spoon,  as  when  the  salmon 
are  on  the  feed  this  answers  every  pur- 
pose, and  is  the  least  likely  to  give 
trouble,  because  there  are  fewer  hooks 
to  get  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  the 
net,  when  landing  a  large  fish,  than  the 
other  plans  where  more  hooks  are  used 
and  consequently  exposed.  The  leader 
to  the  main  line  should  be  of  strong 
twisted  gut  about  two  and  a  half  yards 
long,   tied    with    water    knots,    either 


wrapped  with  silk  thread  or  not,  ac- 
cording to  fancy.  In  this  should  be 
fastened  the  swivels,  the  one  about  a 
foot  and  a  half  from  the  bait,  the  other 
three  feet  distant  from  it.  Two,  three, 
or  more  split  shot  should  be  fastened 
on  half-way  between  the  swivels,  for 
angling  in  strong  or  discolored  water, 
to  keep  the  bait  down;  these  are  not 
requisite  in  clear-water  fishing.  The 
snoods  for  the  spoon  should  be  either 
double  gut  or  strong  gimp,  or  brass 
wire,  or  in  very  clear  water  single  gut 
is  better.  The  swivels  are  best  fitted  in 
by  loops  in  the  gut. 

The  trolling-rod  for  salmon-fishing 
should  not  be  above  fifteen  feet  in 
length,  for  if  longer  it  becomes  weari- 
some to  the  hand  (this  fishing  from  the 
bank  is  the  most  laborious  of  any), 
neither  if  longer  is  it  manageable. 
Strength  and  stiffness  should  be  com- 
bined with  a  fine  even  spring;  and  it 
should  be  proportionately  stronger  in 
the  butt  than  the  fly-rod,  or  you  will 
not  be  able  to  cast  with  precision  or 
troll  either  against  or  across  a  tide  or 
stream,  or  strike  your  fish  sharply  and 
strongly;  all  of  which  should  be  done: 
The  action  in  striking  must  be  perpen- 
dicular or  down  stream,  or  you  will  run 
the  risk  of  drawing  the  bait  from  the 
fish  instead  of  killing  him  with  it,  should 
he  rise  short.  "When  the  fish  is  hooked 
the  rod  should  be  held  upright  as  much 
as  possible,  by  poking  the  butt  of  it,  as 
it  were,  at  him.  Thus  the  line  will 
have  the  full  play  of  the  rod  to  ease  it, 
and  will  hold  a  heavier  fish  in  this  po- 
sition than  in  any  other. 

To  make  your  cast  have  your  line  and 
tackle  about  a  yard  longer  than  your 
rod,  that  it  may  be  under  full  com- 
mand. Take  your  spoon-bait  in  your 
left  hand,  having  your  rod  in  your 
rights — the  point  turned  to  the  left,  and 
about  a  half  a  yard  from  the  ground  or 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


237 


water — then  raise  your  rod,  passing  it 
westward  and  upward  as  you  let  go  the 
spoon,  at  the  same  time  aiming  the 
point  of  the  rod  to  pass  over  the  place, 
as  it  were,  that  you  wish  the  bait  to  fall 
upon.  When  it  is  nearly  out  at  full 
stretch,  drop  the  point  of  your  rod  down 
again  to  a  few  inches  of  the  water,  and 
the  bait  will  fall  not  far  from  the  place 
you  intend.  Then  sometimes  by  short 
and  sudden  jerks  of  the  rod,  sometimes 
by  steadier  and  longer  pulls,  force  your 
bait  along,  either  up,  down,  or  across 
the  stream,  etc. ,  as  you  may  deem  like- 
ly for  a  fish.  It  is  always  good  to  troll 
downwards  across  the  stream  when  the 
fish  are  shy.  Drop  in  your  bait  gently, 
a  little  above  any  likely  hold,  let  it  sink 
a  little,  then  keeping  your  rod  close  to 
the  water,  jerk  it  easily  as  above  de- 
scribed, and  be  sure  to  keep  it  continu- 
ally under  the  water  and  spinning  as 
quickly  as  j)ossible.  Do  not  neglect  to 
fish  it  well  out  to  the  edges  of  the  water, 
because  in  colored  water  especially 
most  fish  are  caught  near  the  edges, 
these  being  the  haunts  of  all  small  fish. 
You  can  scarcely  fish  too  deep,  if  you 
only  clear  the  ground.  Never  regret 
your  bait  being  out  of  sight,  though  it 
is  rather  pleasanter  to  see  it;  you  will  feel 
the  fish  easily,  or  perhaps  see  the  water 
agitated  when  he  rises;  lift  your  rod  and 
strike  as  uprightly  as  you  can,  or  a  lit- 
tle with  the  water.  If  you  strike  in  too 
great  a  hurry  and  horizontally,  the  way 
you  are  trolling,  you  will  snatch  the 
bait  out  of  the  fish's  mouth,  whether  he 
will  or  not,  supposing  he  has  struck  it 
clear  of  the  hooks;  but  this  he  can 
scarcely  do  with  the  simplest  tackle, 
much  less  with  the  more  complicated. 

Trout  and  salmon  are  frequently  seen 
to  follow  the  spoon,  or  a  minnow  for 
bait  if  you  use  one,  yet  hesitate  to  take 
it.  When  such  is  the  case  do  not  halt 
or  stop  in  your  trolling,  but  keep  on  at 


the  same  speed.  The  next  cast  he  will  per- 
haps dash  at  it  just  as  it  is  emerging 
from  the  water,  even  at  the  very  edge. 
It  sometimes  happens  that  a  fish,  if 
either  he  has  not  risen  when  followed, 
or  has  risen  and  missed,  will  not  rise  if 
you  continue  to  troll  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. When  this  happens,  troll  past 
him  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  he  is 
often  tempted,  particularly  if  you  troll 
at  a  greater  speed.  That  is,  suppose  you 
have  been  trolling  against  the  stream, 
fetch  it  back  past  him  like  lightning. 
This  has  been  frequently  proved. 

In  all  clear-water  trolling  it  is  best  to 
wade  up-stream  and  fish  before  you  on 
either  side,  for  the  same  reasons  as  you 
do  the  same  in  fly-fishing.  Clear-water 
trolling  requires  finer  tackle,  a  smaller 
spoon-bait,  smaller  fish  if  you  fish  with 
them,  and  less  lead  or  sinkers;  only 
keep  your  bait  well  under  water.  In 
the  summer  months,  or  from  the  middle 
of  June  to  the  end  of  August,  trolling 
is  not  so  successfully  practiced  in  the 
daytime,  though  the  water  be  clear  and 
the  weather  dark  and  windy  or  foggy. 
The  reason  of  this  is,  probably,  that  in 
the  beginning  and  end  of  the  season 
small  fish  or  their  imitation  by  spoon  or 
otherwise,  is  a  novelty,  and  they  then 
take  the  bait  best,  while  afterward, 
when  they  get  cloyed  and  surfeited  with 
small  fish  for  food,  and  a  greater  vari- 
ety of  baits  comes  in,  they  wantonly 
forsake  them  and  turn  more  readily  to 
other  food,  as  moths,  butterflies,  bee- 
tles, etc.  Besides,  windy  weather 
causes  a  scarcity  of  flies,  and  conse- 
quently a  dearth  at  the  latter  end  of  the 
season,  when  a  more  than  ordinary  ap- 
petite is  raised,  and  they  once  more 
take  to  the  spoon-bait  or  artificial  min- 
now. The  best  season  then  for  spoon- 
bait fishing  is  considered  to  be  from  the 
beginning  of  March  to  the  15th  of  June, 
and  again  in  September. 


238 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


As  a  general  rule,  when  trolling  keep 
the  point  of  the  rod  below  your  elbow. 
The  chief  consideration  and  cause  of 
success  in  trolling  is  undoubtedly  the 
rapid  spinning  of  the  bait,  whatever  it 
may  be;  therefore,  if  your  bait  be  defi- 
cient in  this  qualification,  remedy  it  im- 
mediately, either  by  curving  it  more  or 
putting  on  a  fresh  one.  You  should 
not  at  the  same  time  pass  over  any  place 
likely  to  hold  fish. 

The  same  rules  as  above  apply  to 
spoon-bait  fishing  from  a  boat,  which  is 
now  successfully  pursued  in  Lake  San 
Andreas.  Troll  with  a  line  out  to  the 
length  of  seventy-five  to  one  hundred 
feet,  rather  slowly  then,  and  with  bait 
about  three  feet  deep  in  those  waters. 
The  fish  hook  themselves,  only  lower 
the  point  of  the  rod  when  they  leap. 


THE  VALUE  OF  ALFALFA. 

John  Shirley  Ward,  writing  to  the 
Sural  Press  from  Arcadia  ranch,  near 
San  Bernardino,  says:  "  Much  has  been 
said  and  written  in  reference  to  the 
wonderful  growth  of  Alfalfa,  but  as  we 
have  seen  but  little  on  the  subject  of 
its  actual  cash  value  as  a  crop,  we  pro- 
pose to  give  a  few  items  in  regard  to 
its  cost  and  the  profits  of  the  crop.  Our 
first  experience  was  during  last  year. 
Arcadia  ranch  then  had  seven  acres  of 
Alfalfa.  We  then  sowed  sixty-three 
acres.  From  the  seven  acres  of  old  Al- 
falfa we  sold  $400  worth  of  hay,  and 
saved,  after  paying  toll,  1,204  j)ounds 
of  seed,  though  only  five  of  the  seven 
were  allowed  to  seed.  After  the  seed 
crop  was  cut,  we  had  a  small  crop  which 
was  grazed  by  sheep.  The  seed  was 
worth  here  fourteen  cents  per  pound, 
thus  realizing  $168.56  for  seed,  and 
from  hay,  making  $568.56.      The 


entire  expense  of  this  crop  was  a  little 
less  than  $100. 

' '  I  have  just  put  away  nearly  one  hun- 
dred tons  of  well-cured  hay  at  a  cost  of 
$1.43§  per  ton.  This  includes  the  cost 
of  cutting,  hire  of  mower,  raking  and 
hauling,  all  of  which  was  paid  for  at  the 
highest  prices  for  such  labor.  We  sold 
our  last  year's  crop  at  ten  dollars  per 
ton  in  the  stack,  and  the  price  will  not 
be  less  this  year. 

"Many  persons  writing  of  the  mar- 
velous yield  of  Alfalfa  have  drawn 
largely  upon  their  imaginations.  The 
yield  is  large  enough  if  we  tell  the 
truth,  and  hence  does  not  need  any  ex- 
aggeration. From  our  experience  we 
believe  forty  dollars  per  acre  can  be  re- 
alized, above  the  cost  of  the  crop,  on 
every  acre  well  set  in  Alfalfa,  where  the 
land  is  adapted  to  its  growth  and  water 
is  plentiful. 

"  We  believe  we  can  cut  on  one  hun- 
dred acres  on  this  ranch  at  least  five 
hundred  tons  of  good  hay  this  year, 
and  one  thousand  dollars  will  pay  the 
entire  expenses.  This  will  pay  forty 
per  cent,  per  annum  on  land  at  one 
hundred  dollars  per  acre. 

' '  One  item  in  regard  to  the  grazing 
capacity  of  Alfalfa.  During  last  fall  we 
kept  1,500  sheep  on  twenty-five  acres 
for  twenty-two  days,  and  as  fast  as  it  was 
eaten  off  we  turned  on  the  water.  By 
the  time  they  had  reached  the  lower  end 
of  the  field  the  young  Alfalfa  was  from 
eight  to  ten  inches  high  where  they  be- 
gan grazing. 

"  As  a  forage  plant  we  think  it  excels 
any  sown  in  this  State." 


An  exchange  says  that  the  manu- 
facture of  caoutchouc  from  milk-weed 
(asclepias)  has  been  undertaken  by  a 
company  in  Canada,  with  a  capital  of 
$100,000.  The  milky  juice  yields  about 
four  per  cent,  of  caoutchouc. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


239 


SOME    OF    MAN'S    PHYSICAL    AGENCY 

ON    THE  EARTH  AS    REGARDS 

PLANTING,  ETC. 

BY    OBSEEYEB. 

It  is  evident  to  the  most  careless  ob- 
server that  man  exerts  wonderful  influ- 
ence in  the  material  world,  as  he  does 
in  the  moral  and  intellectual,  in  various 
ways,  both  for'  good  and  evil.  It  may 
be  remarked,  for  instance,  that  he  de- 
stroys birds  because  they  eat  fruit.  But 
these  birds  also  feed  upon  the  insects; 
and  a  worse  evil  is  sometimes  produced 
by  the  increase  of  insects  than  is  cor- 
rected by  the  destruction  of  the  feather- 
ed tribe.  He  destroys  the  wild  animals, 
and  introduces  tamed  and  domesticated 
kinds,  but  some  of  them  are  occasional- 
ly multiplied  into  nuisances.  He  extir- 
pates the  earth  and  other  worms,  which 
might  do  him  great  benefit  in  some  cas- 
es if  left  alive.  His  influence,  when 
conscious,  is  often  in  a  wrong  direction; 
and  when  unconscious  may  turn  either 
favorably  or  unfavorably  for  his  inter- 
ests, according  to  circumstances  over 
which  he  has  no  control.  Even  in  the 
case  of  food  recognized  as  valuable, 
such  as  the  salmon,  the  trout,  'and  the 
oyster,  he  will  often,  with  the  most 
senseless  and  stupid  carelessness,  de- 
stroy the  race  for  the  sake  of  a  few 
years'  supply. 

"We  need  not  refer  particularly  here 
to  his  destruction  of  forests  and  groves 
(without  substituting  plantations)  which 
so  much  influence  the  rain-fall  in  a 
country,  exhaling,  too,  so  much  oxygen, 
and  carbonic  acid,  as  rather  a  hackney- 
ed subject,  but  will  point  to  some  of  his 
other  effects  on  the  earth  in  many 
ways. 

Irrigation,  a  most  important  subject 
for  California,  requires  some  special 
notice  as  a  human  agent.  In  the  south 
and  east  of  Europe,  in  Asia  Minor,  and 


in  many  parts  of  Asia,  this  method  is 
uniformly  and  systematically  adopted 
to  insure  an  increased  production.  It 
is  needed  there,  as  with  us,  partly  from 
the  nature  of  the  summer  climate,  which 
is  continuously  dry,  partly  from  the 
porous  nature  of  the  soil,  either  com- 
posed of  sand  or  gravel  or  of  porous 
and  fractured  rocks.  But  even  this 
may  be  carried  on  in  some  places  with- 
out a  necessity,  and  may  do  more  harm 
than  good,  and  deep  and  thorough  cul- 
tivation of  the  soil  may  be  better  for 
some  plants. 

The  draining  of  tule  lands  or  marshes, 
and  other  low  tracts  of  lands  near  the 
mouths  of  rivers,  or  on  a  coast-line .  is 
another  of  the  many  works  by  which 
man  largely  influences  nature. 

As  we  may  observe,  on  our  city  pen- 
insula large  deposits  of  loose  fine  sand 
occur.  Fortunately  these  sand-dunes 
do  not  consist  entirely  of  pure  silica, 
which  is  always  barren,  and  often  de- 
structive, but  some  plants  flourish  well 
in  them.  There  are  certain  grasses, 
creeping  plants,  and  shrubs  that  are  ad- 
mirably adapted  by  their  habits  and 
growth  to  bind  together  the  shifting 
sands  into  a  solid  mass.  As  many  as 
234  species  of  sand-plants  are  known  to 
botanists.  A  yellow  Inrpine  seems  to 
be  a  valuable  plant  with  us  for  this  pur- 
pose. In  England  of  all  this  great 
number  of  sand-plants,  the  Arundo 
arenaria,  known  locally  by  various 
names  —  Marram  being  that  used  in 
some  parts  of  England — is  by  far  the 
most  important  and  valuable.  It 
thrives  only  in  loose  sands,  and  in  a 
saline  atmosphere.  It  rises  only  to  a 
height  of  twenty-four  inches,  but  sends 
strong  roots  and  rootlets  to  a  distance 
of  forty  feet.  Its  leaves  shelter  the 
surface,  and  the  sand  ceases  to  drift. 
The  plant  dies,  but  its  decaying  roots 
remain,  fertilizing  the  soil.     It  is  follow- 


210 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICULTUBIST. 


ed  by  a  succession  of  other  plants, 
gradually  advancing  until  forest-trees 
can  grow,  or  arable  soil  is  obtained. 

In  our  mines,  where  large  excavations 
have  been  made  for  the  removal  of  ores 
of  gold,  silver,  and  other  minerals,  the 
result  in  the  course  of  time  can  not  but 
be  important,  for  way  is  thus  made  for 
the  passage  of  water,  and  the  subse- 
quent deposit  of  more  minerals,  but 
these  can  only  be  useful  or  important 
when  thousands  of  years  shall  have 
passed  away. 

Finally,  it  may  seem  difficult  to 
imagine  a  limit  to  the  effects  produced 
by  man's  operations,  after  a  lapse  of 
centuries,  for  they  are  continually  in- 
creasing with  an  ever-widening  circle. 
But,  after  all,  they  must  be  recognized 
as  a  part  of  the  very  constitution  of  nat- 
ure, and  they  should  not  be  regarded 
as  interrupting  or  interfering  with  nat- 
ure. It  is  true  that  this  view  of  the 
government  of  the  universe  does  not  ac- 
cord with  the  feelings  of  those  who  de- 
sire to  have  their  attention  directed  in 
a  definite  manner  to  the  repeated  and 
systematic  personal  intervention  of  a 
Divine  Power,  and  who  can  not  recog- 
nize this  Power  without  being  able  to 
trace  what  is  called  the  finger  or  the 
hand  of  the  Creator  in  all  His  works. 
In  a  certain  sense  no  doubt,  every  con- 
trivance, or,  in  other  words,  every  ar- 
rangement in  the  universe,  may  be 
made  to  yield  evidence  of  this.  But  we 
would  venture  to  suggest  that  the  no- 
ble view  of  creation,  and  a  knowledge 
of  the  real  greatness  of  the  Creator,  can 
only  be  learnt  by  those  who  seek  to  dis- 
cover the  much  higher  and  nobler  in- 
telligence that  designed  the  whole  sys- 
tem. That  there  should  be  an  inter- 
fering hand  is  a  mark  of  weakness  in 
the  original  plan.  If  the  structure  be 
perfect,  interference  is  not  necessary. 
The  laws  of  nature  can  only  be  binding 


and  unalterable  because  they  can  not 
be  changed  with  advantage — in  other 
words,  because  they  are  perfect  as  being 
instituted  by  One  who  is  Himself  per- 
fect. 


THE  CLIMBING  FERN  (Lygadiumpalmatum). 

This  most  beautiful  of  our  native 
Ferns  is  so  very  peculiar  in  its  fonn  and 
general  appearance,  that  not  one  person 
in  ten  would  class  it  with  the  other 
Ferns  of  our  woods.  To  the  botanist  it 
has  its  appropriate  place  as  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  the  Ferns.  It  being 
comparatively  a  rare  Fern  adds  to  its 
value,  and  may  be  recorded  as  one  of 
its  peculiarities.  I  have  found  this 
lovely  Fern  in  various  localities;  in 
Maine,  in  Massachusetts,  in  Connecti- 
cut, and  many  other  places.  It  lives  in 
Florida,  and  is  scattered  in  small  patch- 
es over  several  of  the  States.  It  was 
held  in  such  great  esteem  in  Connecti- 
cut that  complete  raids  were  made  upon 
the  locations  in  which  it  grew,  and  it 
was  removed  in  such  quantities  as  to 
become  a  source  of  disgust  to  many  per- 
sons who  loved  and  would  cherish  this 
lovely  green  Fern.  Such  were  the 
quantities  carried  away  that  it  became 
necessary  to  protect  it  from  entire  ex- 
tinction, by  causing  a  law  to  be  passed 
by  the  State  for  its  future  protection 
from  the  vandalism  of  outsiders.  The 
Lygadium  palmatum  has  a  very  slender 
light-brown  stalk,  which  in  the  wilder 
cultivation  of  its  native  haunts  turns  for 
support  lovingly  around  small  shrubs, 
running  to  a  height  of  from  two  to  four 
feet.  From  the  main  stem  the  small 
branches  alternate,  and  in  their  turn 
also  throw  off  branches  and  bear  leaves 
or  fronds  at  each  and  every  division. 
These  frond  leaves  are  again  divided 
into  several  lobes.  By  turning  up  the 
under  side  of  the  leaves  or  small  lobes 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


241 


will  be  seen  the  spore-cases  or  seed- 
vessels,  which  are  arranged  with  much 
grace  and  beauty.  In  short  this  grace 
and  beauty  of  the  plant  not  only  place 
it  at  the  head  of  our  beautiful  Ferns, 
but  render  it  a  great  and  deserved  fa- 
vorite as  a  decorative  or  festive  plant. 
With  great  care  this  plant  can  be  safely 
and  successfully  transplanted  and  culti- 
vated, although  its  great  delicacy  and 
impatience  of  rough  handling  has  thus 
far  prevented  its  cultivation  to  much 
extent. 

«. 

BLACK  BLIGHT  OF  OKANGE  AND  OLIVE. 

BY    DR.    A.    KELLOGG. 

[Concluded.] 

Speaking  specially,  the  region  of  San- 
ta Barbara  is  eminently  favored  by  the 
high  mountains  that  shelter  it  from  the 
north-west  winds,  while  those  winds 
force  and  disperse  dense  fogs,  already 
rarer  as  they  rise,  into  a  mild  veil  that 
shelters  the  valley  from  excess  of  sun, 
and  at  the  sam»  time  it  tempers  the 
clime,  also  affords  a  moderate  degree 
of  moisture,  so  important  to  successful 
culture  of  subacid  fruits.  The  sub- 
tropical Olive  also  requires  this  even- 
ness of  temperature. 

According  to  Dr.  L.  N.  Dimmick's 
table  of  temperature,  kindly  furnished 
me,  I  find  the  mean  temperature,  for 
example  say  at  7  a.m.,  is  60.90 — a  re- 
sult truly  marvelous.  Still,  if  taken  at 
the  dew-fall,  the  data  would  be  some- 
what different,  yet  great  ecpaanimity  is 
certainly  preserved. 

Sudden  changes  from  excessive  heat 
to  cold,  or  extreme  cold  to  heat,  unless 
greatly  qualified  by  open  forests  and 
half -shades,  exhaustive  dryness,  or  heavy 
rainy  regions,  are  nearly  all  equally  per- 
nicious. A  tempered  and  humid  sea- 
breeze  is  also  conducive  to  healthy 
growth  in  latitudes  subject  to  long  dry 


seasons,  so  is  a  soil  very  light  and  free 
from  clay;  if  otherwise,  incessant  and 
laborious  Stirling  must  supply  this  seri- 
ous natural  defect. 

We  have  designedly  avoided  prescrip- 
tions or  empirical  remedies.  They  most- 
ly tend  to  mischief,  because  they  flatter 
and  foster  wrong  views.  We  of  course 
are  all  right,  it  is  only  the  devil  and  all 
to  pay,  and  nobody's  fault.  Only  just 
have  faith  alone  in  the  doctor's  pills  and 
medicines,  and  go  on  then  h — wards. 
Now  this  will  never  do,  it  is  decidedly 
wrong.  Have  the  faith  of  life,  that 
springs  naturally  and  rightly  from  good 
doing  all  round,  in  the  first,  second,  and 
third  place.  These  remedies,  so  far  as 
they  contribute,  even  incidentally ,  to  re- 
store the  general  health  of  the  grove, 
are  all  good.  Books  and  recipes  may 
be  consulted,  but  let  them  play  minor 
parts. 

As  a  main  point  of  reliance,  your  re- 
lief lies  in  ridding  the  roots  of  the 
aphides  as  well.  Clean  away  the  earth, 
expose  the  main  stumps  to  mellow  au- 
tumn's farewell  smile  for  weeks  togeth- 
er. Cast  away  the  infested  and  impov- 
erished soil,  and  prepare  to  begin  life 
anew.  Rotation  is  the  law;  if  .you  can 
not  rotate  trees,  then  rotate  good  virgin 
soil  instead,  and  tell  me  if  ninety-nine 
times  in  a  hundred  the  trees  do  not 
come  out  of  the  contest  with  flying  col- 
ors. Go  to  the  root  of  the  difficulty, 
and  there  is  no  fear  of  anything  but  a 
triumphant  result.  No  superstructure 
can  stand  where  the  foundation  is  sap- 
ped. 

This  properly  done,  the  golden  age 
of  rejuvenation  will  return,  laden  with 
the  luscious  apples  of  Hesperides — em- 
blems of  the  good  of  life,  with  the  sweet 
oil  of  cherished  age.  Withal,  be  care- 
ful in  your  zeal  not  to  heap  up  the  soil 
above  the  natural  air-line  bark  close 
against  the  trees,  though  raised  some- 


242 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


what  a  little  way  off;  for  if  you  do,  it  is 
all  over  with  theni,  even  were  the  soil 
as  rich  and  rare  as  Eden.  Indeed,  in 
most  cases  the  fault  is  in  our  overman- 
agement;  but  for  all  that  we  do  not 
pretend,  like  c'Dr.  Positive  de  Snatch- 
away,"  to  go  into  all  the  negatives  be- 
sides. 

In  brief,  upon  a  large  scale,  throwing 
off  the  soil  with  a  plow,  then  carefully 
scraping  and  cleaning  away  with  a  hoe 
and  stiff  scrub-brush,  or  the  like;  wash- 
ings are  well  with  any  strong  saline,  al- 
kaline, soapy,  or  urinous  fluids.  In 
some  cases  where  feasible,  after  replen- 
ishing with  new  soil  (and  perfectly  pre- 
pared compost,  if  any  be  used),  a  mulch 
of  movable  rocks  or  cobbles  after  the 
trees  have  attained  to  a  good  majority, 
is  the  most  valuable  of  all,  furnishing 
virgin  soluble  salts,  silicates,  and  varied 
earthy  materials  required,  retaining, 
condensing,  radiating,  etc. 


EOSES. 

The  Persians,  compared  to  their 
neighbors,  the  Turks  and  Egyptians, 
are  a  lively  people,  but  we  would  call 
them  quiet,  and  even  sad,  because 
their  gaiety  is  so  different  from  ours, 
and  their  manners  are  more  grave  and 
dignified.  But  they  are  fond  of  amuse- 
ments, and  one  of  their  yearly  festivals 
is  the  "  Feast  of  the  Roses,"  which  takes 
place  during  the  Rose  season,  which  is 
in  June,  July,  and  indeed  the  greater 
part  of  the  summer.  I  will  try  to  tell 
you  something  about  it. 

The  climate  being  very  warm,  the  peo- 
ple live  much  out  of  doors,  and  during 
this  feast  tents  are  pitched;  everyone 
wears  his  or  her  prettiest  dresses,  and  as 
all.  Eastern  people  are  fond  of  bright 
colors,  the  scene  is  a  very  gay  one. 

During  this  festival  everything  be- 
tokens mirth  and  enjoyment.     The  cym- 


bals and  lute  are  heard  from  morning 
till  night,  the  story-tellers  recount  their 
most  beautiful  tales,  and  the  dancing- 
girls  dance  for  hours  at  a  time.  Then, 
when  night  comes,  and  the  moonlight 
covers  everything  like  a  silver  cloud, 
the  people  stretch  themselves  on  their 
soft  carpets  and  listen  to  the  songs  of 
the  nightingales  and  soft  serenades  on 
the  women's  lutes. 

In  some  parts  of  Turkey,  whole  fields 
of  Roses  are  cultivated,  from  which  the 
Turks  make  the  famous ' '  attar  of  Roses," 
which  is  so  fragrant  that  a  vessel  or  any- 
thing touched  with  a  drop  of  it  seems 
never  to  lose  the  smell;  and  the  Hin- 
doos scatter  Rose  -  leaves  in  the  water 
they  drink  to  give  it  a  pleasant  ajDpear- 
ance. 

There  are  more  than  two  hundred 
kinds  of  Roses,  and  they  are  of  all 
sizes,  from  the  tiny  "Picayune  Rose," 
so-called  because  it  is  no  larger  than  a 
five-cent  piece — which  in  the  South,  is 
called  a  picayune — to  the  immense  Cab- 
bage Rose;  of  all  shades  of  color,  bright 
yellow,  pink,  red,  and  almost  black. 
The  Rose  of  Damascus,  or  Damask  Rose, 
is  the  one  first  brought  to  this  country, 
and  is  a  very  deep  red,  with  a  strong 
perfume.  Then  there  are  the  Egyptian 
Sea  Roses,  Rock  Roses  which  grow  in 
dry  rocky  places  where  no  other  flow- 
er can  live;  and  the  Alpine  Rose,  grow- 
ing by  the  eternal  snow-drifts  of  the 
Alps. 

Roses  are  hardy  plants,  and  will  live 
for  a  long  time  if  properly  cared  for. 
There  is  a  Rose-tree  in  Germany  which 
is  known  to  be  eight  hundred  years  old, 
and  it  is  still  blossoming. 

"We  all  know  and  love  the  pretty 
Moss  Rose,  with  its  mossy  green  veil, 
that  gives  it  such  a  shy,  modest  air;  and 
the  Tea  Rose,  which,  in  the  South  and 
West,  grows  on  large  trees.  The  writ- 
er, had  in  her  garden,  in  Arkansas,  one 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


243 


which  grew  to  be  seven  feet  high,  and 
would  bear  as  many  as  five  hundred 
blossoms  at  once. 

But  there  is  one  Rose  more  curious 
than  all  others  —  the  Rose  of  Jericho. 
It  has  another  name  which  botanists 
call  it,  that  is,  Anastatica,  a  Greek 
word,  meaning  resurrection;  and  the 
Arabs  call  it  the  symbol  of  immortality, 
because  it  comes  to  life  again  long  after 
it  has  seemed  to  be  dead.  It  lives  in 
the  hot  sands  of  the  Desert  of  Sahara, 
and  when  the  dry  season  comes  it  with- 
ers, folds  its  leaves  and  draws  up  its 
roots,  like  little  feet,  into  a  light  ball, 
and  the  winds  of  the  desert  carry  it  un- 
til it  reaches  a  moist  soil,  and  then,  we 
are  told,  it  drops,  takes  root,  and  its 
leaves  become  green,  and  its  blossoms 
open,  a  delicate  pink. 

There  is  a  flower  in  Mexico,  known 
as  the  Resurrection  Flower,  which  is 
very  much  the  same.  It  may  be  carried 
about  in  your  pocket  for  a  year  or  more, 
and  yet,  when  put  into  a  saucer  of  wa- 
ter, in  a  few  hours  will  blossom  out  as 
bright  and  fresh  as  if  it  had  just  come 
out  of  the  garden. 

When  the  Romans  conquered  Britain, 
more  than  eighteen  hundred  years  ago, 
they  introduced  many  curious  customs 
into  that  country — among  others,  that 
of  carving  the  figure  of  a  Rose  on  the 
ceiHngs  of  their  banqueting-halls,  or 
su  ending  a  natural  Rose  over  the  din- 
ing-Lable,  with  the  Latin  motto,  "sub 
rosa,"  written  above  it,  to  indicate  that 
whatever  is  said  there  among  friends, 
or  under  the  rose — for  that  was  the  mean- 
ing of  the  words — should  not  be  re- 
peated, the  white  Rose  being  the  sym- 
bol of  silence. 

The  Rose  is  the  national  emblem  of 
England,  as  the  Thistle  is  of  Scotland, 
and  the  Shamrock  or  Clover  of  Ireland. 
Every  person  who  has  studied  histoiy 
knows  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  in  En- 


gland, when  the  two  rival  families  of 
York  and  Lancaster  fought  for  the  En- 
glish crown,  the  house  of  York  having  for 
its  badge  the  white  Rose,  and  the  house 
of  Lancaster  the  red. 

Many  of  my  young  readers  have  heard 
of  the  language  of  flowers  in  which  peo- 
ple can  hold  conversation  with  each 
other;  for  instance,  a  white  Rose  is  the 
emblem  of  silence;  a  withered  Rose  of 
any  color,  "  Let  us  forget;"  and  so  on. 
A  Rose  handed  to  a  person  means  one 
thing  when  handed  upright,  another 
when  its  position  is  reversed.  With  its 
thorns  it  has  a  certain  meaning;  with- 
out them,  still  another.  Among  these 
Eastern  people  —  the  Persians,  Turks, 
and  Hindoos — this  language  of  flowers 
is  so  perfectly  understood  that,  by 
means  of  a  bunch  of  their  favorite  Ro- 
ses, long  conversations  may.  be  carried 
on  without  a  word  being  spoken.  This 
suits  these  people,  who  do  not  like  to 
talk  very  much,  but  who  are,  neverthe- 
less, a  very  romantic,  dreamy,  and  po- 
etic race. — Lily  de  Sozia  Wood,  in  St. 
Nicholas  for  July. 


RAISING  EVERGREENS  FROM  SEEP. 


The  following  hints  about  raising  ev- 
ergreens from  the  seed,  which  will  be 
found  ajDplicable  to  this  State,  we  take 
from  the  Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

The  cones  of  the  tree  should  be  gath- 
ered as  soon  in  the  fall  as  they  have  be- 
come fully  ripe,  and  placed  where  they 
will  become  sufficiently  dry  to  shed  the 
seed  easily  when  handled.  In  most 
cases  this  can  be  easily  done,  the  Pine 
being  a  notable  exception,  the  cones  of 
which  should  be  placed  in  tepid  water 
for  a  few  hours  before  being  dried.  The 
seed  should  then  be  kept  in  a  cool  place 
until  spring.  In  the  spring  the  seed- 
beds are  prepared.     The  nature  of  ever- 


244 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


greens  is  so  unlike  that  of  ordinary  for- 
est-trees, that  an  altogether  different 
method  must  be  employed  in  planting 
and  starting.  The  buds  must  be  pro- 
tected from  the  hot  sun  to  prevent 
scorching,  and  from  the  dry  winds  to 
avoid  withering.  A  light  sandy  soil  is  to 
be  preferred,  which  should  be  made  of 
moderate  fertility.  In  the  selection  of 
any  soil  avoid  one  that  when  dry  is 
hard  and  compact  upon  the  surface,  as 
it  will  retard  the  growth  of  the  young 
plants.  If  the  owner  has  only  such 
soil,  a  loose  one  should  be  obtained  at 
least  sufficient  to  cover  the  seed  to  the 
depth  of  three  inches.  If  a  fertilizer  is 
required,  a  well  -  rotted  compost  should 
be  used  and  fresh  manure  avoided. 

As  soon  as  the  ground  is  warm  and 
dry  enough  in  the  spring  to  work,  the 
seed  may  be  sown  in  drills  sis  or  eight 
inches  apart  in  the  beds,  and  should  be 
covered  by  sifting  the  earth  carefully 
over  them  about  half  an  inch  deep. 
They  then  may  be  covered  half  an  inch 
more  with  a  hoe.  Having  been  cover- 
ed the  bed  should  be  watered.  After 
being  planted  screens  should  be  placed 
over  the  beds  to  protect  the  young  and 
tender  shoots  when  they  make  their 
appearance.  For  this  purpose  frames 
should  be  made  four  feet  wide  and 
twelve  feet  long.  Any  kind  of  boards 
will  answer  for  the  frames,  but  they 
should  not  be  made  so  heavy  as  to  be. 
difficult  to  handle.  This  frame  may  be 
covered  with  laths  placed  about  an 
inch  and  a  half  apart,  and  so  secured 
that  the  wind  may  not  blow  them  off. 
A  good  covering  can  be  made  of  coarse 
cloth  or  evergreen  boughs  in  place  of 
the  laths.  When  the  screens  are  com- 
pleted they  should  be  placed  over  the 
beds  about  six  inches  from  the  ground, 
and  should  only  be  removed  in  cloudy 
days  when  the  plants  are  hoed.  In 
moist,  "muggy"  weather,  care  should 


be  taken  that  the  plants  do  not  mildew, 
which  disease  is  in  many  portions  of 
the  country  the  most  fatal  for  the  young 
plants.  To  avoid  this  the  bed  should 
be  thoroughly  aired  by  raising  the  screen 
perhaps  a  foot  from  the  bed  to  allow  a 
more  free  circulation  of  the  air.  It  may 
perhaps  be  needless  to  say  that  the  ten- 
der shoots  of  most  evergreens  are  con- 
sidered an  exceedingly  dainty  morsel  by 
domestic  fowls  and  many  kinds  of  birds, 
and  until  they  begin  to  be  woody  the 
young  plants  should  be  carefully  guard- 
ed against  their  inroads. 


THE  GOLDEN  CHAIN,  OE  LABURNUM. 


BY  E.  J.  HOOPEB. 


In  this  genus  (Cytisus  Linn.),  Nat. 
Ord.  Leguminosce ,  we  have  several  es- 
teemed shrubs  and  low  trees  which  I 
consider  indispensable,  at  any  rate, 
both  for  large  gardens  and  orna- 
mental planting.  But  the  one  at  the 
head  of  this  paper,  and  often  called 
the  Scotch  Laburnum,  is  rather  pret- 
tier, more  showy  and  desirable  than 
any.  Its  beautiful,  pendulous,  bright- 
yellow  flowers  present  a  lovely  and 
most  graceful  appearance  for  about  two 
or  three  weeks  in  the  latter  end  of  the 
month  of  May  or  in  the  beginning  of 
June  in  California,  and  after  the  Scotch 
Broom  flowers,  and  is  far  from  being 
as  yet  common  here.  Upon  them  is 
sometimes  worked  the  purple -flower- 
ing Cytisus,  and  when  growing  to- 
gether these  and  the  yellow  flowers 
afford  a  striking  contrast.  They  are 
usually  raised  from  seed,  which  is  plen- 
tifully produced,  and  in  good  soil  form 
flowering  specimens  in  four  or  five 
years.  It  will  grow  to  be  a  large 
tree,  and  the  wood  of  it  is  very  hard, 
of  a  fine  color,  and  will  polish  very 
well ;    it    approaches    near    to    green 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


245 


ebony.  In  some  of  the  old  gardens 
in  England  and  Scotland,  where  they 
have  been  permitted  to  stand,  there  are 
large  trees  of  this  kind,  which  are  fit 
to  cut  down  for  the  use  of  the  timber. 
They  grow  very  fast,  and  are  extremely 
hardy,  so  may  be  well  worth  propa- 
gating, even  upon  poor  shallow  soils 
and  in  exposed  situations,  but  in  good 
soil  they  of  course  will  do  much  better. 
This  tree  grows  wild  in  the  Alps  in  Eu- 
rope. There  is  a  fine  specimen  of  it  in 
the  Bartram  Botanical  Gardens  in  Phil- 
adelphia, which  is  about  twenty -five 
feet  high  by  fifteen  inches  in  circum- 
ference. It  is  certainly  one  of  the 
most  ornamental  of  our  medium -sized 
trees.  It  is  best  raised  from  seed  in 
preference  to  layers  or  cuttings.  Sow 
as  soon  as  ripe — if  with  the  pods  the 
better.  They  appear  in  a  few  weeks. 
In  a  year  transplant  into  nursery-rows, 
one  foot  apart.  The  sooner  they  are 
permanently  removed  the  better,  as 
they  get  easily  checked  by  being  dis- 
turbed. There  are  several  varieties,  as 
the  oak-leaved,  variegated,  etc.  These, 
as  before  remarked,  are  propagated  by 
grafting  or  budding  on  the  common 
kind. 

It  is  true  we  have  many  yellow-flow- 
ering trees  and  shrubs  displaying  their 
beauty  early  in  the  spring  in  this  State, 
such  as  the  Australian  Acacias,  For- 
sythia,  Viridissima,  etc.,  but  the  La- 
burnum forms  a  pleasing  variety  in  the 
shape  of  its  flowers. 


A  Huge  Tree.  — An  Australian  paper 
publishes  an  account  of  "an  enormous 
Fig-tree,"  exceeding  in  stoutness  and 
grandeur  the  forest  giants  of  California. 
Three  feet  from  the  ground  it  measured 
150  feet  in  circumference;  at  fifty  feet 
it  sent  forth  giant  branches,  the  trunk 
at  that  height  being  eighty  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. 


THE     HUGE    TEEES     OF    THE  WOULD. 

One-third  of  the  land  surface  of  our 
globe  is  covered  with  forests.  The  lar- 
gest in  the  world  is  situated  near  Mus- 
coli,  at  the  foot  of  Mt.  iEtna,  and  is 
called  ' '  The  Chestnut  Tree  of  a  Hun- 
dred Horses,"  believed  to  be  the  oldest 
tree  in  the  world.  Its  name  arose  from 
a  report  that  Queen  Jane  of  Aragon, 
with  her  principal  nobility,  took  refuge 
from  a  violent  storm  under  its  branches. 
At  one  time  it  was  supposed  that  it  con- 
sisted of  a  clump  of  several  trees  united. 
But  on  digging  away  the  earth  the  root 
was  found  entire,  and  at  no  great  depth. 
Five  enormous  branches  rise  from  the 
trunk  204  feet  in  circumference,  the  in- 
tervals between  which  are  of  various 
extent,  one  of  them  being  sufficient  to 
allow  two  carriages  to  drive  abreast.  A 
Fig-tree  stands  on  the  northerly  bank 
of  the  River  Johnstone,  in  East  Austra- 
lia, latitude  27°,  longitude  151°,  near 
Brisbane,  measuring  three  feet  from  the 
ground  150  feet,  and  at  55  feet,  where 
it  sends  off  great  branches,  80  feet  in 
circumference.  In  Bouyouderch,  near 
Constantinople,  is  a  plane-tree  measur- 
ing 149  feet  in  circumference.  The 
"  Giant  Redwood  Tree," in  Nevada,  lat- 
itude 38°,  longitude  129°,  is  119  feet  in 
circumference.  There  are  thirteen  oth- 
er trees  standing  near  it,  measuring 
from  72  to  96  feet  in  circumference.  In 
Oaxaca  is  a  Cypress-tree  measuring  117 
feet  in  circumference.  The  "Grizzly 
Giant,"  the  monarch  of  the  Mariposa 
Grove,  measures  92  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence. The  Tulare  -  Fresno  Forest,  so 
called  from  its  being  situated  in  those 
two  counties  (  California ) ,  extending 
seventy  miles  in  length,  with  a  width 
in  some  places  of  ten  miles,  consists 
mainly  of  big  trees  with  a  multitude  of 
smaller  ones,  measuring  from  six  to  120 
feet  in   circumference.     In  1852  John 


246 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Dowd  discovered  in  Calaveras  County, 
California,  a  grove  of  103  trees,  cover- 
ing a  space  of  fifty  acres,  measuring 
from  70  to  96  feet  in  circumference. 
There  is  an  Elm-tree  in  the  south  of 
England  which  measures  61  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. In  Norfolkshire  there  is 
a  famous  Lime-tree  measuring  48  feet 
in  circumference.  On  the  Hubbard 
farm,  in  North  Andover,  stands  a  mag- 
nificent Elm-tree,  which  measures  27 
feet  in  circumference.  A  Barberry 
bush  has  taken  root  in  a  notch  30  feet 
from  the  ground,  which  can  be  recol- 
lected by  some  of  the  oldest  inhabitants 
during  their  boyhood.  At  Hingham, 
near  the  Old  Colony  House,  is  an  Elm- 
tree  measuring  26  feet  in  circumference. 
The  Washington  Elm,  in  Cambridge, 
measures  25  feet,  and  the  big  Elm  on 
Boston  Common  measures  24  feet  in 
circumference. 


THE  PHILOSOPHY   OF   DEW. 

BY  METEOKOLOGIST. 

From  the  manner  in  which  we  com- 
monly hear  the  deposition  of  dew  spoken 
of,  we  are  led  to  think  that  the  ideas  of 
many  people  are  vague  and  incorrect. 
Dew  is  spoken  of  as  falling,  as  though  it 
were  formed  in  the  clouds,  or  some- 
where in  the  region  above  us,  and 
showered  down  from  thence  like  the 
rain  which  so  abundantly  waters  and 
purifies  the  earth.  But  this  is  evident- 
ly incorrect ;  for  if  dew  were  formed  in 
the  clouds  or  showered  down  from  the 
atmosphere,  it  is  manifest  that  we 
should  find  it  equally  deposited  on 
all  substances ;  we  should  find  it  upon 
sand  and  slate  roofs,  and  upon  our 
side -walks  and  pavements  it  would  lie 
plentifully.  This  hypothesis  must  there- 
fore be  abandoned.  To  those  to  whom 
the  subject  of  the  formation  and  dep- 
osition of  dew  may  seem  obscure,  we 


would  beg  leave  to  suggest  the  follow- 
ing ideas  : 

It  is  well  known  that  the  atmosphere, 
when  apparently  in  a  state  of  dryness, 
holds  in  solution  by  virtue  of  the  ca- 
loric it  contains  a  greater  or  less  quan- 
tity of  water.  When  the  weather  is 
warmest  and  driest  the  quantity  of 
water  or  moisture  then  held  in  solu- 
tion is  greatest.  It  need  not  be  said 
that  this  moisture  is  the  result  of  evap- 
oration carried  on  rapidly  through 
the  day.  When  the  temperature  of 
the  air  is  low,  and  the  moisture  thus 
evaporated  is  in  a  state  of  imperfect 
solution,  we  feel  sensibly  the  damp- 
ness of  the  weather ;  as  in  the  winter, 
this  moisture,  not  dissolved  by  the  heat 
of  the  atmosphere,  is  frozen,  and  ap- 
pears in  the  form  of  hoar-frost. 

In  the  evening,  when  the  heat  of  the 
sun  declines,  the  earth  radiates  rapidly 
the  heat  it  has  acquired  during  the  day  ; 
while  the  atmosphere,  which  is  not  a 
good  radiator,  brings  its  caloric  in 
contact  with  every  plant  and  blade  of 
grass  colder  than  itself,  to  which  its 
caloric  is  imparted  and  the  atmosphere 
deprived  of  it.  The  air  having  its 
solvent  power  thus  reduced,  becomes 
unable  to  retain  in  solution  so  much 
moisture,  and  consequently  deposits  or 
distills  it  upon  those  bodies  and  vegeta- 
tion which  are  colder  than  itself. 

It  will  be  observed,  then,  that  but 
little  dew  is  deposited  during  cloudy 
evenings ;  as  clouds  not  only  prevent 
the  rapid  radiation  from  the  earth  which 
takes  place  at  other  times,  but  they  do 
themselves  impart  their  caloric  to  the 
earth.  It  is  on  fine  clear  nights  that 
the  dew  is  most  perfect  and  unob- 
structed. We  may  observe,  too,  that 
the  deposition  of  dew  is  most  abun- 
dant toward  morning,  when  the  atmos- 
phere has  been  almost  deprived  of  its 
solvent  power  or  caloric. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


247 


It  will  be  observed,  too,  that  dew  is 
only  deposited  on  those  bodies  which 
freely  radiate  caloric  ;  since  it  is  the 
radiation  of  heat  which  most  readily 
reduces  the  earth  to  a  temperature  be- 
low that  of  the  atmosphere.  For  this 
reason  we  find  little  or  no  dew  upon 
sand  or  pavements,  but  a  beautiful  dis- 
tribution of  it  upon  those  plants  and 
vegetables  which  so  greedily  need  it. 


Siberian  Coffee. — Numerous  attempts 
have  been  made  to  grow  Coffee  in  this 
State,  but  up  to  the  present  time  with 
no  very  marked  success.  The  common 
Coffee-plant,  though  not  strictly  tropL 
cal,  is  susceptible  to  injury  from  very 
slight  frosts,  and  can  not  come  into  gen- 
eral cultivation  in  California  for  that 
reason,  though  there  may  be  a  few  favor- 
ed localities  where  it  will  succeed.  If 
a  variety  can  be  obtained  that  will  en- 
dure a  few  degrees  more  of  cold  than 
the  common  kind,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
it  can  be  successfully  grown  in  this 
State.  In  the  Siberian  Coffee,  if  the 
published  accounts  of  it  be  true,  we 
have  the  required  variety.  This  Coffee 
has  recently  been  introduced  into  En- 
gland, and  is  being  propagated  at  the 
Kew  Botanical  Gardens.  Plants  have 
been  sent  to  Jamaica,  India,  Ceylon, 
and  other  British  colonies  favorable 
to  its  growth,  from  some  of  which  it 
may  doubtless  be  obtained  for  experi- 
ment. An  India  paper  says  that  "  if 
this  species  of  Coffee  answers  all  expec- 
tations that  have  been  formed  of  it,  we 
may  look  for  something  akin  to  a  revo- 
lution in  the  estates  not  only  of  South 
India,  but  of  Ceylon  also."  It  is  said 
to  possess  a  better  flavor  than  the  com- 
mon Coffee,  and  to  be  far  more  prolific, 
and  what  is  of  more  importance  to  this 
State,  is  remarkable  hardy,  and  capable 
of  being  cultivated  in  regions  where  the 
old  variety  will  not  thrive  at  all. 


THE  VINE    AND    THE    THYME- PLANT. 

BY  JOHN  G.    SAXE. 

A  Vine  which  nourished  fair  and  tall 

By  clinging  to  a  friendly  wall, 

Grew  proud  to  hold  her  head  so  high, 

(As  claiming  kindred  with  the  sky) 

And,  looking  down  with  pitying  scorn 

On  humbler  plants  beside  her  born, 

Thus  to  a  Thyme-plant  rudely  said : 

"  'Tis  strange  you  never  leave  your  bed, 

Nor  grow  a  foot  above  the  earth. 

Sure,  life  must  be  of  little  worth 

To  one  who  thus  is  always  found 

The  merest  groveler  on  the  ground ; 

Where  all  the  fragrance  you  may  boast 

On  low  society  is  lost; 

Whereas  (excuse  me,  Goody  Thyme) 

If  you  like  me  would  only  climb 

Aloft,  and  take  a  higher  range, 

You'd  own  it  for  a  charming  change!  " 

The  other  answered:  "Very  true, 

I  do  not  grow  so  tall  as  you: 

But  then,  your  ladyship  must  own, 

Unlike  yourself,  I  grow  alone ! 

For  me,  though  but  a  humble  Thyme 

I  pity  you,  who  can  not  climb 

A  single  inch  without  support, 

And  so  (0  fie!)  are  fain  to  court 

An  ugly  wall  to  be  your  prop ; 

Take  that  away — and  down  you  drop ! 

MOEAL. 

Whoever  manages  to  rise 
By  native  strength,  may  well  despise 
The  man  who  owes  his  loftier  state 
To  fawning  on  the  rich  and  great. 


Transplanting  the  Phlox. — By  trans- 
planting the  Phlox  in  spring,  early 
bloom  will  be  obtained  from  the  old 
plants,  and  late  bloom  from  the  shoots 
which  spring  from  the  bits  of  roots 
left  in  the  old  bed.  "When  taken  up 
the  large  stools  should  be  carefully  di- 
vided before  transplanting.  The  finest 
blooms  are  obtained  from  young  plant*, 
or  from  old  ones  when  thinned  to  two 
or  three  stems.  Heavy  loam  is  best 
adapted  to  growing  the  Phlox  to  per- 
fection, as  it  gives  richness  to  the  fol- 
iage, and  beauty  to  the  flower. 


248 


THE     CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


FOEEST  CULTUEE. 

A  reckless  waste  of  our  forests  has 
been  characteristic  of  our  population 
from  the  earliest  settlement  of  the 
country.  We  have  made  haste  to  cut 
them  away  in  the  most  indiscriminate 
manner,  as  if  they  were  the  chief  barri- 
ers to  the  progress  of  civilization;  and 
not  content  with  what  the  woodman's 
axe  could  do,  they  were,  in  the  earlier 
days  of  western  settlement,  burned  by 
the  thousands  of  acres,  without  the 
least  regard  to  any  possible  value  which 
they  might  ever  possess,  or  to  any  harm 
which  their  destruction  might  occasion 
to  the  material  interests  of  the  country. 
The  history  of  this  arboreal  waste,  could 
it  be  fully  written,  would  show  an  im- 
mense national  loss,  occasioned  by 
mere  wanton  recklessness.  It  is  con- 
tended, nay,  demonstrated,  by  scientific 
men  that  this  prodigal  destruction  has 
wrought  changes  in  the  climate  and 
rendered  the  soil  less  productive,  in 
some  places,  than  it  otherwise  would 
have  been.  In  the  newer  regions  of 
the  country,  and  especially  along  the 
path  pursued  by  the  westward  march  of 
our  population,  the  forests,  next  to  the 
Indians,  have  been  regarded  as  the  chief 
enemies  of  civilized  man.  They  have 
both  been  destroyed  together,  though 
as  the  trees  outnumbered  the  red  men 
we  still  have  rather  more  of  them  left. 
In  Illinois,  within  the  last  forty  years, 
streams  which  once  permitted  the  pas- 
sage of  light  steamers  are  now  for  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  year  dry,  or 
nearly  so;  and  such  has  been  the  change 
in  the  Hudson  River  that  the  Legislat- 
ure a  year  ago  made  an  appropriation 
for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  Canal 
Commissioners  to  make  surveys,  maps, 
and  plans  for  damming  the  outlets  of 
lakes  and  constructing  reservoirs  on  the 
head-waters  of  the  Hudson.    It  has  been 


found  feasible  to  divert  from  the  St. 
Lawrence  a  volume  of  water  five-fold 
greater  than  that  which  flows  into  the 
Hudson  from  its  present  source.  The 
subject  is  important,  and  that  not  only 
as  it  relates  to  those  navigable  rivers, 
but  to  the  agriculturist.  Under  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  any  person 
may  pre-empt  240  acres  of  land,  upon 
condition  of  planting  a  certain  area 
with  trees.  Already  20,000,000  trees 
have  been  planted  under  these  provis- 
ions. There  is  no  question  that  the 
trees  will  grow,  none  that  they  will 
prove  profitable;  the  drawback  is  that 
they  do  not  come  to  sufficient  maturity 
for  cutting  in  less  than  twenty  years. 
But  even  so,  the  well-to-do  agriculturist 
it  might  be  supposed,  would  be  willing 
to  do  something  toward  forest  culture 
for  the  sake  of  those  who  come  after 
him.  At  the  last  meeting  of  the  State 
Agricultural  Society  of  Minnesota,  an 
interesting  essay  was  read.  The  essay- 
ist painted  a  rather  doleful  picture  of 
what  Minnesota  will  be  if  her  forests 
are  destroyed  in  the  future  as  they  have 
been  in  the  past,  and  he  urged,  as  a 
remedy,  forest  culture,  which  had  not 
thus  far  made  satisfactory  progress.  It 
appears  that  1,116  persons  have  applied 
for  land  in  that  State  under  the  provis- 
ions of  the  law,  by  whom  the  required 
proportional  part  of  170,307.50  acres 
(partly  estimated)  have  been  planted 
with  trees,  or  equal  to  the  area  of  about 
one  county.  The  fact,  now  pretty  well 
authenticated,  that  the  cutting  down  of 
forests  is  among  the  chief  causes  which 
have  spread  sterility  and  desolation  over 
regions  of  Europe  that  were  once  j^ro- 
ductive  of  harvests  and  crowded  with 
population,  ought  to  be  an  admonition 
to  us  not  only  to  arrest  the  wholesale 
destruction  of  our  forests,  but  to  use  all 
possible  efforts  to  increase  their  culture 
and  growth. — New  York  Shipping  List. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


249 


A  FEEAK   IN  THE  FLO  WEB  WORLD. 

The  flower  of  a  Calla  Lily  has  been 
sent  to  the  office  of  the  Rural  Press  as  a 
curiosity.  To  all  appearances,  and  as 
far  as  a  careful  investigation  by  good 
authorities  goes,  it  is  a  freak  of  nature 
in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  It  is  kindly 
sent  by  W.  T.  Reilly,  assistant  assayer 
of  the  Mint,  and  as  is  understood,  this 
Calla  is  from  a  plant  at  his  house,  1519 
Sacramento  Street. 

That  the  peculiarity  of  this  flower 
may  be  fully  understood,  we  will  ex- 
plain that  the  three  principal  parts  of  a 
flower  like  the  Calla  are  called  in  bot- 
any the  stem,  the  spathe,  and  the  spadix. 
The  spadix  is  the  yellow,  granulated 
column  that  rises  from  the  base  of  the 
floral  envelope.  This  envelope,  or 
white  flower-leaf,  or  bract,  is  technically 
called  the  spathe. 

Now,  according  to  all  descriptions 
and  engravings  of  numerous  authorities 
consulted,  and  according  to  the  experi- 
ence of  numerous  persons  of  whom  in- 
quiry has  been  made,  we  find  no  account 
of  any  separate  species  of  Calla  which 
has  a  double  spathe.  Yet  such  is  the 
case  undoubtedly  with  the  flower  sent 
us.  In  the  specimen  under  considera- 
tion there  is  but  one  spadix  crowning 
the  stem,  but  it  has  a  definite  and  dis- 
tinct spathe  or  white  flower -leaf  on 
each  side  of  it,  one  curving  to  the  right 
and  the  other  to  the  left.  Will  not  any 
florists  who  may  have  met  with  the 
same  peculiarity  in  Callas,  have  suffi- 
cient interest  in  the  subject  to  inform 
us  if  it  is  a  common  occurrence  ? 

De  Candolle  merely  hints  at  what 
may  be  a  solution  of  the  difficulty  in  his 
work  on  the  "Philosophy  of  Plants." 
In  describing  a  spathe  in  general  he 
says  it  may  consist  of  one  or  more 
hractew  or  bracts,  but  he  does  not  as- 
sert there  that  the  Calla  Lily  may  have 

Vol.  V.— 26. 


the  two  bracts.  Still  his  assertion  may 
give  the  true  solution  without  making 
it  necessary  to  call  the  double  form  a 
separate  species.  To  students  of  bot- 
any it  may  be  of  interest  to  know  that 
the  Calla  belongs,  according  to  Lind- 
ley,  to  the  order  Orontiacece,  or  Oron- 
tiads.  Its  full  botanical  name  is  Calla 
JEQxiopica,  or  Ethiopian  Calla,  and  it 
was  introduced  into  England  from  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in  1731,  nearly 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  It 
grows  wild  on  the  island  of  St.  Helena. 
— Pacific  Rural  Press. 


THE  ORANGE-GROVES. 


"Orange-groves  are  beautiful  to  be- 
hold, but  hard  to  possess;  and  there  are 
but  two  ways  in  which  a  man  can  get 
an  Orange-grove.  One  is  to  have  the 
money  and  buy  it,  if  he  can;  and  the 
other  to  find  a  favorable  location — plen- 
ty of  water  and  a  good  bank  account  to 
start  in  on  —  and  then  ten  or  twelve 
years  of  hard  and  patient  industry  and 
good  management,  and  he  may  win  the 
coveted  prize.  We,  Mr.  Editor,  have 
made  a  small  Orange-grove  of  some  200 
trees  just  commencing  to  bear,  a  grove 
of  Lime  -  trees  in  beautiful  bearing  of 
about  the  same  number,  a  Lemon-grove 
also,  besides  a  splendid  vineyard,  and 
many  other  kinds  of  fruit.  We  have  as 
productive  a  property,  for  the  number 
of  years  (and  nine  years  ago  our  place 
was  a  desert)  as  is  to  be  found  in  any 
place  in  the  world,  and  we  did  it  with- 
out any  money  to  start  in  on,  and  have 
had  the  usual  amount  of  bad  luck  and 
drawbacks.  Our  property  is  now  worth 
for  its  present  and  prospective  produc- 
tive capacity,  $12,000;  but  it  is  not  for 
sale  at  any  price.  And  the  question  is 
at  once  asked,  why  can't  anyone  else 
do  the  same  ?    Well,  maybe  they  can; 


250 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


but  if  they  think  so,  just  let  thein  try. 
We  happened  to  get  a  fine  location  and 
plenty  of  water,  and  these  are  the  main 
requisites  in  that  business." 

The  above  is  an  extract  from  a  letter 
written  by  an  old  settler  to  the  Los  An- 
geles Herald.  The  writer  would  try  to 
discourage  people  from  investing  in 
Orange  -  groves  because  it  takes  time 
and  capital  (labor)  to  develop  the  bear- 
ing trees,  and  yet  he  admits  that  he 
started  with  nothing  nine  years  ago  in 
a  desert,  and  now  has  a  property  worth 
$12,000. 

m  »  » 

FOEEST  AND  GEAPE  CULTUEE. 

The  San  Jose  Mercury  of  recent  date, 
has  the  following  article  in  reference  to 
some  experiments  made  by  Hon.  A.  L. 
Barstow,  in  Grape  and  forest  culture, 
at  his  place  upon  the  Santa  Cruz  road, 
two  miles  from  San  Jose :  "  In  March, 
1873,  Mr.  Barstow  planted  30,000  Grape- 
cuttings   on  forty  acres   of  land.     He 
planted  a  row  of  Monterey  Cypress  and 
two  rows  of  Gums  on  three  sides  of  the 
vineyard,  and  a  row  of  Cypress  and  six 
rows  of  Gums  on  the   north  side — all 
twelve  feet  apart.     The  plants  were  in 
boxes  containing  from  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred each,  and  were  from  three  to  six 
inches  in  height.    No  special  pains  were 
taken  in  planting.    The  ground  had  been 
plowed  six  weeks  before  to  a  depth  of 
ten  inches,  and  it  was  further  loosened 
with   a   sj>ade   to   a   depth  of  perhaps 
eighteen  or  twenty  inches  in  all.     The 
plants  were  set  deep  in  the  ground,  the 
tops   of   them   coming   an   inch   or   so 
above  the  surface.     No  rain  to  speak  of 
fell  after  they  were  planted,   but  about 
half  of  them  were  watered  once  from  the 
reservoir;   the   other   half  received  no 
water  till  the   next  winter.     There  is 
now   no  perceptible  difference  in  size 
between  those  watered  and  those  that 
were  not.     The  average  height  of  the 


trees  is  now,  twenty  -  six  months  from 
planting,    over  twenty   feet,    and  they 
range  from  three  to  eight  inches  in  di- 
ameter.     His   object   in   planting   the 
trees  was  threefold:  First  —  To  protect 
the  vines  from  the  cool  summer  wunds, 
and  hasten  the  ripening  of  the  Grapes 
before  the  early  fall  frosts  which  some- 
times  injure  the  vines.     Second  —  To 
provide  an  abundant  supply  of  fuel  for 
domestic  purposes.     Third  —  To   make 
the  vineyard  ornamental  as  well  as  use- 
ful.    A  result  followed  which  he  did  not 
anticipate.     "When  he  plowed  the  vine- 
yard this  spring  the  gophers  flocked  in 
by  thousands,  till  he  became  seriously 
alarmed.     They  did  no  apparent  dam- 
age to  the  vines,  but   they  worked   on 
the  roots  of  the  trees,  and  quite  a  num- 
ber of  them  were  uprooted  by  the  wind. 
It  became  a  question  how  he  should  get 
rid  of  the  pests,  and  he  tried  trapping 
and  poison  with  but  little  success.     It 
is  a  pretty  heavy  contract  to  fight  go- 
phers out  of  a  forty  -  acre  field,  and  he 
gave  it  up  in  disgust.     What  the  traps 
and  the  poison  failed  to  do  has  been  ac- 
complished by  a  colony  of  owls,   wTho 
hide  in  the  trees  in  the  day  and  catch 
gophers  in  the  night  and  early  morn- 
ing.    So  far  as  we  could  see,  the  owds 
have  the  best  of  it. 

"  The  soil  is  light  loam  mixed  large- 
ly with  gravel,  and  it  is  between  fifty 
and  sixty  feet  to  surface-water.  On 
forty  acres  of  land  Mr.  Barstow  has 
thirty  thousand  vines,  twTo  thousand 
Gums,  and  four  hundred  Cypress-trees. 
The  trees  cost  fifty  dollars  a  thousand, 
but  they  can  be  had  for  less  now,  and 
can  be  raised  for  a  quarter  of  that  sum 
by  the  quantity.  Mr.  Barstow  is  con- 
fident that  land  which  can  now  be  pur- 
chased for  twenty  -  five  dollars  an  acre 
can  be  made  worth  a  thousand  dollars 
an  acre  in  ten  years  by  planting  it  over 
with  Gum-trees." 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


251 


(gtUtovtal  ^ortfolia. 


THE   EUCALYPTUS   GLOBULUS. 

The  California  Farmer  having  made 
some  comments  on  our  remarks  on  this 
tree  in  our  July  number,  we  feel  called 
upon  to  add  a  few  more  notes  on  its 
peculiar  characteristics  as  they  appear 
to  us.  Differences  of  opinion  on  all 
subjects  are  useful  and  proper,  because 
truth  may  sometimes  be  elicited  there- 
from. The  Farmer  commences  its  no 
doubt  well-intended  criticism  by  stat- 
ing: "We  are  quite  astounded  to 
read  this  in  the  Horticulturist,  for 
the  editor  or  whoever  prepared  the  ar- 
ticle is  ignorant  of  the  great  number  of 
distinct  varieties  of  this  valuable  tree, 
or  they  have  never  seen  the  best  orna- 
mental varieties  growing."  With  all 
due  respect  to  our  contemporary  the 
Farmer  and  his  motives,  we  must,  at 
any  rate,  here  correct  him  in  what  may 
certainly  be  termed  a  thorough  non  se- 
qaitur,  for  we  headed  our  article  as  he 
does  his  also,  the  Blue  G-um,  or  Eu- 
calyptus globulus,  and  it  therefore  neces- 
sarily follows  that  we  had  no  reference 
whatever  in  our  article  to  any  other  of 
the  species  of  this  genus  or  family  of 
the  Eucalyptus;  we  certainly  had  not, 
or  we  should  of  course  have  named 
them.  Our  brother  editor  then  goes  on 
to  say:  "It  is  true  to  a  certain  extent 
that  the  single  variety,  globulus,  is  not 
so  finely  formed  as  other  species,  but 
the  great  public  would  suppose  all  the 
Eucalypti  to  be  embraced  in  this  arti- 
cle in  the  Horticulturist,  and  thus  an 
injury  would  be  done  to  the  spread  of 
its  growth."  This  surely,  brother 
Warren,  is  too  forced  a  result  to  follow 
in  the  public  mind,  for  all  our  observa- 
tions were,  it  must  be  evident  to  every- 
one, strictly  confined  to  the  E.  globulus. 
Our  good  friend  then  concludes  in 


these  words:  "We  know  of  no  orna- 
mental evergreen-tree  more  beautiful 
than  the  pendant  species  of  the  Euca- 
lyptus; and  even  the  Blue  G-um  can  be 
made  shapely  by  forming  the  tree  at  its 
early  growth.  Even  the  lofty  gigantea 
and  all  rapid  -  growing  kinds  can  be 
made  ornamental,  with  broad,  well- 
formed  umbrageous  heads,  if  proper  at- 
tention is  given  at  the  right  time.  We 
advise  our  friends  of  the  Horticulturist 
to  go  into  the  country  and  examine  the 
pendant  varieties,  and  they  will  change 
their  views."  Now  this  our  examina- 
tion of  the  other  varieties,  pendant  or 
otherwise,  is  not  at  all  for  us  concerned 
in  the  question  at  issue,  for  we  did  not 
in  one  single  word  refer  to  any  of  the 
Eucalypti  except  the  globulus,  therefore 
it  is  with  this  species  only  we  have  to 
speak  in  reply  to  the  California  Farmer, 
and  we  may  perhaps  be  allowed  in  all 
sincerity  to  add  to  the  farmer's  friend, 
for  so  we  consider  it  to  be  in  all  the 
many  years  the  Farmer  has  been  pub- 
lished, or  such  at  any  rate  has  been  its 
object. 

Now  with  regard  to  the  E.  globulus, 
we  wish  to  be  entirely  candid  and  truth- 
ful concerning  its  merits  as  an  orna- 
mental and  shade  tree;  and  although  we 
can  not,  so  far  as  we  have  had  the  op- 
portunity of  noticing  it  anywhere,  re- 
gard it  par  excellence  as  entitled  to  be 
called  either  the  one  or  the  other,  ex- 
cept when  it  is  young  (and  -we  find 
Messrs.  R.  J.  Trumbull  and  F.  A.  Mil- 
ler, both  seedsmen  and  florists,  agree 
with  us  in  that),  yet  we  are  willing  to 
state  that  we  can  so  far  modify  our 
opinion  as  to  admit  that  if  this  tree  is 
properly  pruned,  trained,  and  lopped 
when  young,  and  this  training,  prun- 
ing, and  lopping  is  perseveringly  resort- 
ed to  continually  in  its  older  growth,  it 
may  probably  make  it  a  handsome, 
symmetrical  and  umbrageous  tree.    But 


252 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


at  present  we  can  not  call  to  mind  that 
we  have  seen  any  specimens  of  it  to  ful- 
ly answer  this  description,  nor  can  we 
find  any  of  our  friends  who  have,  except 
our  valued  friend  and  contemporary, 
the  California  Farmer.  And  we  may  add , 
to  show  that  we  desire  to  do  justice  to 
the  whole  subject,  and  to  all,  that  the 
agricultural  editor  of  the  Alta,  in  re- 
marking upon  our  views  of  the  Euca- 
lyptus-tree, says  that  "in  reference  to 
its  value  for  ornament,  the  judgment  of 
the  Hokticultukist  differs  from  that  of 
the  multitude.  Its  tall  and  slender 
form  and  the  plume-like  droop  of  its 
foliage  are  generally  admired,  and  it 
contrasts  well  with  our  other  ornament- 
al trees.  It  attains  its  most  beautiful  de- 
velopment, however,  in  the  interior,  where 
the  winds  are  not  so  high  as  in  San  Fran- 
cisco." The  italics  are  ours.  The  point 
arises  here,  whether,  as  in  some  other 
things,  the  multitude  does  not  run  this 
tree  for  ornament  and  shade  too  much 
into  a  mania,  especially  when  we  con- 
sider how  few  there  are  who  plant  the 
Blue  Gum  or  E.  globulus  who  under- 
stand how  to  prune  and  manage  this 
species,  or  if  they  should  know  this, 
how  few  there  are  who  will  carry  it  into 
thorough  and  complete  effect?  But 
time  proves  all  things.  We  may  pos- 
sibly have  to  rescind  our  opinion  as  to 
the  globulus  not  becoming  a  beautiful 
shade-tree.  If  we  should  become  cer- 
tain of  •  this,  we  will  cheerfully  make 
confession  of  our  views  upon  the  sub- 

Ject  *_> 

TEA- SEEDS. 

We  have  been  favored  by  Mr.  B.  F. 
Wellington,  seedsman,  425  Washington 
Street,  with  a  small  package  of  the 
above  seeds.  They  are  freshly  import- 
and  will  easily  vegetate  in  about  six 
weeks.     As  the  cultivation  of  the  Tea- 


plant  in  California  is  very  likely  sooner 
or  later,  with  the  necessary  experience 
and  cheap  labor,  to  be  successful,  we 
consider  that  the  importation  and  trial 
of  the  seed  here  is  likely  to  be  highly 
interesting  to  many.  Although  some 
Tea-plants  planted  a  few  years  ago  near 
Oalistoga  failed  to  do  well,  as  they  came 
here  in  a  perishing  condition,  yet  some 
of  our  lands  and  climates  we  have  no 
doubt  may  be  all  right  for  them,  prop- 
erly delivered,  or,  what  would  be  still 
better,  if  they  are  raised  from  the  seed. 
The  culture  of  the  plant  and  the  manu- 
facture of  the  Tea  may  be  a  much  sim- 
pler and  easier  process  than  most  per- 
sons think.  Of  the  hardy  nature  of  the 
plant  we  have  abundant  evidence  in 
those  planted  in  the  gardens  at  Wash- 
ington. In  many  climates  of  India, 
neither  frost  nor  snow,  drought  nor  rain, 
sunshine  nor  shadow,  it  is  said,  materi- 
ally injure  it.  Nor  is  it  subject  to  the 
visitation  of  any  worm,  bug,  or  disease. 
We  hear  that  Tea  cultivation  is  begin- 
ning to  succeed  in  some  of  our  Southern 
States,  and  hopes  are  entertained  there 
that  it  will  grow  in  some  degree  for 
home  consumption.  We  see  no  reason 
whatever  why  it  should  not  succeed  in 
California,  at  any  rate  if  most  of  the 
minute  labor  is  performed  by  women 
and  children.  Mr.  William  Saunders, 
the  able  Superintendent  of  Experiment- 
al Gardens  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, recommends  growing  Tea-seeds 
in  boxes  filled  with  light  soil,  covering 
them  to  the  depth  of  half  an  inch  with 
the  same.  A  sash-covered  frame  in  very 
cold  weather  will  afford  the  most  favor- 
able, conditions  of  growth;  but  when 
this  convenience  is  not  available,  the 
boxes  or  pots  may  be  placed  in  a  shel- 
tered and  somewhat  shaded  position  in 
the  open  air,  and  the  soil  maintained  in 
a  damp,  although  not  wet  state.  After 
one  year's  growth  they  may  be  trans- 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


253 


planted  to  their  permanent  locations. 
As  an  ornamental  shrub,  a  North  Car- 
olina lady  states  that  she  highly  prizes 
it  as  an  acquisition  to  her  garden.  It 
grows  ten  feet  high  with  her,  and  is  an 
evergreen.  It  has  endured  the  severe 
cold  of  the  winters  there  without  injury. 
She  also  says  she  prepares  from  the 
leaves  tea  of  a  satisfactory  quality. 


OUR   GEEANIUM   CHEOMO. 


By  an  unaccountable  oversight  we 
omitted  to  notice  the  above  finely  exe- 
cuted and  beautiful  picture,  presented 
to  our  subscribers  with  the  last  (July) 
number  of  our  magazine,  for  which  we 
are  much  indebted  to  the  kindness  of 
Mr.  Saul.  The  varieties  illustrated  are 
Eckford's  Lady  Edith  and  Coleshill,  of 
the  most  brilliant  crimson  and  pink  col- 
ors. On  this  lovely  variety  of  evergreen 
perennials  much  eloquence  has  been 
lavished  by  many  writers,  and  justly  so, 
for  no  plant  better  justifies  the  grower. 
No  flower  sells  better  in  the  market 
than  the  Geranium.  '  This  is  sufficient 
proof  that  it  is  a  general  favorite. 
There  are  extensive  catalogues  contain- 
ing many  hundreds  with  names.  There 
is  a  great  sameness  in  the  colors  of 
many,  yet  nearly  all  are  cultivated  as 
choice  florist's  flowers,  This  is  the 
bedding  -  plant,  par  excellence,  and  of 
the  easiest  propagation  by  cuttings. 
The  varieties  are  endless,  ranging  in  ev- 
ery shade  of  white,  rose,  crimson,  scar- 
let, carmine,  etc.  At  the  present  time 
there  are  thirty  or  more  of  double  vari- 
eties, though  as  yet  only  of  dark  colors, 
but  we  are  beginning  to  propagate 
double  sorts  of  many  of  the  shades  we 
have  in  the  single.  The  variegated- 
leaved  Geraniums  are  divided  into  five 
classes,  namely:  "Golden-margined," 
"  Silver-margined,"  "  Golden  tricolor," 


and  "Bronzed."  We  have,  also,  the 
beautiful  Ivy-leaved  and  various  scent- 
ed-leaved Geraniums. 


MECHANICS'  INSTITUTE  FAIR. 


A  very  attractive  feature  has  been 
added  to  the  Fair  in  the  garden — which 
is  70  feet  wide  by  220  feet  long,  and 
laid  out  in  admirable  taste  with  green 
lawns,  bordered  by  flowering  plants — a 
rockery  about  18  feet  in  diameter,  hav- 
ing a  basin  of  water,  in  the  centre  of 
which  a  thin  sheet  of  water  falls  from  a 
height,  enveloping  a  series  of  colored 
lights.  At  the  back  of  the  rockery  is  a 
rustic  house  of  quaint  design,  making 
an  appropriate  termination  to  the  gar- 
den. 

A  plateau  70  by  50  feet  is  provided 
at  the  other  end,  and  will  contain  the 
exhibits  of  Ferns,  fruits,  cut-flowers  and 
kindred  things. 

The  approach  to  the  garden  will  be 
by  a  gate  20  by  20  feet,  flanked  on  eith- 
er side  by  garden  ornamentations,  rus- 
tic seats,  summer-houses,  etc.  From 
the  plateau  there  will  be  a  descent  by 
broad  steps  to  the  horticultural  grounds. 
During  the  evening  the  garden  will  be 
lighted  by  suitable  reflectors  from  the 
roof  which  will  be  covered  by  canvas. 
The  general  design  of  the  garden,  the 
work  of  Mr.  Hammond  Hall,  is  being 
well  carried  out  by  the  superintendent 
of  this  department,  Mr.  Charles  Shu- 
mann. 


NATIVE  TREES. 


The  Fresno  Expositor  has  this  tribute 
to  native  California  trees :  "  It  has  long 
been  a  matter  of  wonder  with  us  why 
the  culture  of  our  native  trees  was  so 
much  neglected  by  nurserymen  and 
others  engaged  in  tree  culture  in  Cali- 


254 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


fornia.  Outside  of  a  few  varieties  of 
the  Pine  and  the  common  Cottonwood, 
we  scarcely  ever  find  any  of  the  other 
varieties  of  native  trees  cultivated.  Yet 
there  are  many  really  beautiful  trees 
growing  in  the  forests  of  this  State. 
Among  those  we  particularly  think  of 
at  this  time  is  the  California  Laurel; 
certainly  no  tree  that  is  grown  in  this 
State  can  surpass  it  either  in  beauty  of 
foliage  or  the  stateliness  of  growth,  and 
besides  the  tree  is  valuable  for  its  wood. 
Another  beautiful  tree  is  the  Wild  Nut- 
meg. It  makes  a  very  pretty  tree.  The 
common  Oak  of  California,  though  of 
slow  growth,  is  well  worthy  of  cultiva- 
tion. Besides  these,  there  are  many 
other  native  trees  that  should  be  prop- 
agated. Grustaf  Eisen,  at  the  Vineyard 
Farm,  informs  us  that  he  gathered  a 
quantity  of  seeds  from  different  species 
of  trees,  while  journeying  through  the 
mountain  forests  of  this  State  last  sea- 
son. These  seeds  have  been  planted 
on  the  farm  this  season,  and  are  now 
growing  finely.  In  a  few  years,  with 
care,  this  splendid  farm  will  be  finely 
adorned  with  native  trees.  We  wish 
the  spirit  for  the  cultivation  of  native 
trees  was  general  with  the  householders 
of  California." 


NEW  AND   RARE  PLANTS. 

Pinguicula  grandiflora. — This  is  a 
British  plant.  It  is  a  charming  Butter- 
wort.  For  the  simple  and  unaffected 
floral  beauties  which  the  plant  develops, 
it  deserves  to  be  found  in  every  good 
collection  of  hardy  plants.  The  length 
of  time  the  plant  remains  in  flower  de- 
pends upon  the  strength  of  the  crowns, 
but  the  blooming  period  may  extend 
to  six  weeks.  It  requires  a  cool  shady 
place  and  to  be  liberally  watered.  It 
is  one  of  the  insectivorous  plants. 


Ornithogalum  (Heliocharmos) 
Glaucophyllum. — A  new  species,  of 
which  bulbs  were  brought  from  Asia 
Minor  last  spring.  It  is  one  out  of  a 
very  large  number  of  closely  allied 
species,  which  have  exactly  the  general 
habit  of  the  common  Ornithogalum  um- 
bellatum. 

Phalffinopsis  Ludermanniana  Pul- 
chra. — The  flower  is  violet  outside, 
with  a  white  hue.  The  upper  part  of 
the  sepals  and  petals  is  of  a  port-wine 
color.  The  inferior  part  of  the  sepals, 
petals,  lip,  and  base  of  the  column  are 
of  the  most  shining  blue  amethyst.  The 
whole  is  very  beautiful. 

Adiantum  gracillimum.  —  Plants 
of  this  most  charming  novelty  have  re- 
cently been  introduced  to  the  notice  of 
English  florists,  no  less  a  price  than  $5 
being  charged  for  it.  It  is  described  as 
being  of  surpassing  excellence  for  dec- 
orative purposes,  and  a  beautiful  con- 
trast to  the  now  well-known  A.  Farley- 
ense.  The  extreme  minuteness  and  du- 
rability of  its  fronds  will  make  it  popu- 
lar with  bouquet-makers,  and  it  is  said 
to  retain  its  beauty,  when  cut,  for  a 
much  longer  period  than  the  old  A.  cu- 
neatum.     Thomas  Moore  says  of  it: 

' '  The  genus  Adiantum  has  probably 
contributed  more  beautiful  plants  to  our 
Fern-houses  than  any.  other  belonging  to 
the  order,  and  the  species  now  offered 
for  the  first  time  is  a  sufficient  proof 
that  its  forms  of  beauty  are  not  yet  ex- 
hausted. In  the  well-known  A.  Farley- 
ense  we  have  a  massive  grandeur  found 
in  no  other  species,  and  in  A.  gracillimum 
we  have  the  most  elegant  and  graceful 
form  yet  introduced,  so  that  wherever 
these  plants  are  grown,  these  two  ex- 
treme forms  will  assuredly  become 
great  favorites.  The  fronds  are  about 
a  foot  long,  and  from  eight  to  nine 
inches  across.  The  texture  of  the  frond 
is  very  thin  and  fragile,  and  its  color  is 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


255 


a  very  pale  yellowish-tinted  olive-green. 
Its  light  and  graceful  fronds  will  ren- 
der it  simply  invaluable  to  the  bou- 
quetist,  while  its  hardiness  will  com- 
mend it  to  all  Fern-growers  for  decora- 
tive purposes." 


NEW    FKUITS. 

Amazon  Red  Raspberry.  —  Origi- 
nated by  J.  and  W.  R-  Judefind,  Edes- 
ville,  Kent  County,  Md.;  said  to  be  very 
productive,  early,  hardy,  of  very  large 
size,  firm  for  carriage,  of  fine  flavor, 
and  of  beautiful  color.  It  is  best  culti- 
vated on  the  hill  system.  It  bears  as 
well  on  the  new  canes  as  the  old. 
Should  be  allowed  five  or  six  canes  on 
each  hill. 

Rea's  Mammoth  Quince. — A  very 
large  variety  of  the  Orange  Quince.  A 
strong  grower  and  productive. 

Victoria  Nectarine. — Very  large; 
the  finest  of  all  the  English  varieties. 

The  Souvenir  du  Congress  Pear. — 
A  new  splendid  and  remarkable  variety; 
large  fine  form,  of  superior  quality  and 
earliness;  larger  than  the  Bartlett  or 
Clapp's  Favorite.  It  is  strongly  re- 
commended by  Ellwanger  &  Barry, 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 


The  American  Erythronium. — A  cor- 
respondent of  the  London  Garden  says 
that  when  he  planted  the  Erythronium 
Americanum  (or  "Dog's-tooth  Violet") 
in  common  rich  borders,  he  rarely  had 
any  flowers.  He  afterward  placed  the 
roots  in  the  stone  compartments  of  the 
rock  garden,  and  had  an  abundance  of 
bloom.  The  soil  among  the  rocks  was 
peat  and  loam.  He  also  states  that  all 
the  species  of  Erythronium  succeed  well 
in  rough  stone  boxes. 


The  Aughinbaugh  Blackberry.  — Our 
frontispiece  is  a  true  representation  of 
this  new  and  excellent  variety  of  Black- 
berry, which  begins  to  ripen  from  the 
1st  to  the  15th  of  May,  and  continues  to 
produce  berries  until  about  the  middle 
of  July,  about  the  time  other  varieties 
begin  to  ripen.  In  addition  to  the  ad- 
vantages of  large  size  and  early  ripen- 
ing, this  is  of  excellent  flavor,  and  does 
not  contain  so  large  a  proportion  of 
seeds  and  core  as  other  varieties. 
Plants  are  now  ready  for  transplant- 
ing, and  for  sale  at  Mr.  Aughinbaugh's 
residence  on  Washington  Avenue,  west 
of  Euclid  Street,  Alameda,  and  at  G-eo. 
F.  Silvester's,  317  Washington  Street, 
San  Francisco.  Price,  $25  per  hun- 
dred plants. 


Immense  Seedling  Apricots. — We  have 
just  been  shown  a  lot  of  magnificent 
Apricots  from  Mr.  Aughinbaugh's  or- 
chard in  Alameda.  The  average  cir- 
cumference of  the  lot  is  over  eight 
inches,  and  the  largest  picked  out  at 
random  measured  eight  and  five-six- 
teenths of  an  inch,  and  weighed  six 
ounces.  This  is  the  first  bearing,  and 
is  valuable  on  account  of  size  and  flavor 
and  late  ripening. 


The  report  that  Treadwell  &  Co.  of 
San  Francisco  are  closed  up  is  not  true, 
says  the  Bural  Press.  They  are  selling 
harvesting  machinery  and  other  goods 
as  usual,  although  much  of  their  large 
stock  is  being;  sold  it  is  said  below  cost. 


Powdered  or  crushed  bones  are  useful 
for  any  crop.  They  add  to  the  soil 
phosphate  of  lime  chiefly,  and  this  is  a 
component  part  of  nearly  every  vegeta- 
ble valuable  for  food. 


256 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


EEPOET  ON  THE  FKUIT  AND  VEGETA- 
TABLE  MARKET. 

BY   E.    J.    HOOPEB. 

We  never  think  that  a  few  remarks 
on  fruit  as  a  portion  of  our  diet  is  ever 
out  of  place.  There  is  often  too  great 
a  want  of  knowledge  on  these  points 
among  the  masses.  Instead  of  stand- 
ing in  any  fear  of  a  generous  consump- 
tion of  ripe  fruits,  we  regard  them  as 
positively  conducive  to  health.  The 
very  maladies  commonly  assumed'  to 
have  their  origin  in  the  free  use  of  Ap- 
ples,-Peaches,  Cherries,  Melons,  and 
all  wild  as  well  as  domestic  berries, 
have  been  quite  as  prevalent,  if  not 
equally  destructive,  in  seasons  of  scar- 
city. This  remark,  however,  is  more  ap- 
plicable to  the  Eastern  climate  than  to 
ours  in  California;  for  in  the  East,  in 
the  fruit  season,  they  have  conditions 
of  hot  and  sultry  weather  which  predis- 
pose to  sickness,  as  bowel  complaints, 
particularly  among  children,  from  a  too 
free  use  of  many  sorts  of  fruits,  while 
in  our  comparatively  most  healthy  at- 
mosphere the  feasting  of  persons  of  all 
ages  on  owe  most  generous  and  luscious 
gifts  of  Pomona  is  almost  a  harmless 
proceeding. 

There  are  so  many  erroneous  notions 
entertained  of  the  bad  effects  of  fruits, 
however,  everywhere,  that  it  is  never 
out  of  order  in  our  fruit  article  for  the 
Horticulturist  to  promulgate  a  coun- 
teracting impression,  having  its  founda- 
tion in  common  sense,  and  based  upon 
the  observation  of  the  intelligent.  We 
have  sometimes  no  patience  in  reading 
the  endless  rules  to  be  observed  in  this 
particular  department  of  physical  wel- 
fare and  comfort.  No  one,  we  imagine, 
lived  longer  or  freer  from  the  paroxysms 
of  disease,  by  discarding  the  delicious 
fruits  of  the  land  where  he  dwells  for 
a  time  only,  or  in  which  he  finds  a  per- 


manent home.  On  the  contrary,  they 
are  necessary  to  the  preservation  of 
health,  and  it  is  therefore  arranged  they 
should  make  their  appearance  at  the  time 
when  the  condition  of  the  body,  oper- 
ated upon  by  deteriorating  causes  not 
always  understood,  requires  their  grate- 
ful renovating  influence. 

We  are  not  in  favor  of  using  fruit 
much  in  pies  or  puddings,  particularly 
for  children,  but  to  use  it  with  such 
things  as  slices  of  bread  or  some  rice 
to  eat  with  it.  For  this  purpose  it 
should  be  prepared  by  putting  Apple 
slices,  or  Plums,  Currants,  ripe  Goose- 
berries, etc.,  into  a  stone  jar,  and 
sprinkle  among  them  as  much  sugar  as 
necessary.  Set  the  jar  in  an  oven,  on  a 
hearth  or  a  cooking-stove,  with  ateacup- 
ful  of  water  to  prevent  the  fruit  from 
burning;  or  put  the  jar  into  a  sauce- 
pan of  water  till  its  contents  are  perfect- 
ly done;  then  bread  or  rice  may  be  put 
into  the  jar,  to  eat  with  the  fruit,  if  pre- 
ferred. 

With  respect  to  the  right  time  of 
gathering  fruits,  their  period  of  what  is 
called  by  the  French  bonification  con- 
sists in  the  ripeness  and  flavor  which 
fruits  of  all  kinds  acquire  if  plucked  a 
few  days  before  arriving  at  their  first 
maturity,  and  preserved  under  a  proper 
degree  of  temperature.  Apples  may 
acquire  or  arrive  at  this  second  degree 
of  maturity  upon  the  tree,  but  it  too 
often  happens  that  the  flavor  of  the 
fruit  is  thus  lost,  for  fruit  overripe  is 
always  found  to  have  parted  with  a 
portion  of  its  flavor  and  juiciness. 

Our  fruit  market  now  presents  the 
most  tempting  and  splendid  appear- 
ance of  any  time  of  the  year,  because 
the  greatest  variety  of  fruits  are  found 
on  the  stalls,  and  where  in  any  other 
land  can  such  an  assemblage  of  orchard 
or  garden  products  be  seen  at  this  sea- 
son?   Their  prices  are  generally  rath- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


257 


er  high,  this  year,  on  account  of  the 
frosts  and  drought  in  early  spring. 

About  the  middle  of  last  month  (Ju- 
ly) common  Pears  were  plentiful  and 
cheap.  The  season  for  Gooseberries 
closed.  Currants  were  getting  a  trifle 
overripe,  and  prices  had  reached  the 
minimum  point.  Raspberries  became 
scarcer,  and  they  retailed  at  30c.  to  35c. 
Cherry  Plums  were  quoted  at  12^-c, 
and  Plums  continued  firm  at  8c.  to 
12^c  The  receipts  of  Bartlett  Pears 
increased,  but  they  were  making  slow 
progress  toward  ripeness,  and  were 
quoted  at  12^c  per  lb.  Oregon  Cher- 
ries were  quotable  at  25c.  per  lb.; 
Strawberries,  20c;  Apricots,  8c'  to 
12^-c;  Grapes  10c  to  15c;  German 
Plums,  15c  to  20c  Crawford  Peach- 
es brought  fancy  prices.  Blackberries 
declined  in  price.  "Winter  Squash  was 
coming  in,  and  was  offered  at  2c  to  3c 
per  lb.  Okra  sold  at  15c ;  Green  Corn, 
at  25c  to  35c  per  doz. ;  Egg  Plant,  at 
6c  to  8c  per  lb. ;  Asparagus,  at  10c  to 
12|c ;  Chile  Peppers,  25c ;  Shell  Beans, 
5c;  Artichokes,  25c  to  40c  per  doz.; 
Sweet  Potatoes,  8c  to  12Jc  per  lb.; 
Watermelons,  35c  to  50c  each;  Can- 
teloupes,  25c  to  50c  Figs  were  a  drug 
in  the  market  at  low  and  nominal  rates. 
Our  people  are  not  educated  up  to  a 
knowledge  of  their  excellencies.  They 
should  be  peeled  and  sugared  like  Peach- 
es, for  dessert,  and  in  that  way  are  a 
great  table  delicacy.  Of  course  some 
growers  dry  and  cure  the  Fig,  but  many 
parties  will  not  take  that  trouble,  and 
thus  the  fruit  is  left  to  perish  in  large 
quantities. 

About  the  23d  of  last  month  ( July ) 
Grapes  arrived  in  considerable  quanti- 
ties— Black  Hamburg  and  Muscat  be- 
ing the  varieties  most  to  hand  at  that 
time.  The  former  are  quoted  at  15c 
per  lb,,  and  the  latter  at  20c  Sweet- 
water   and   other  varieties  in   season, 


not  including  the  above  named,  retailed 
at  10c  per  lb.  Bartlett  Pears  were 
abundant  at  10c;  Currants  by  the  box, 
25c  to  50c;  Raspberries,  30c  to  35c 
per  lb.;  Blackberries,  10c  to  12ic; 
Plums,  8c  to  12^c;  Cherry  Plums, 
10c;  German  Prunes,  15c  to  25c; 
Apricots,  10c ;  Nectarines,  12^c  to  15c ; 
Crab  Apples,  8c;  Bananas,  25c  to  75c 
per  doz.;  Pine-apples,  50c  to  SI  each. 
Peaches  arrived  in  large  quantities,  and 
their  price  was  much  diminished  in  con- 
sequence. 

Green  Lima  Beans  were  quoted  at 
8c  per  lb.,  and  dry  do.  at  15c;  "Winter 
Squash,  2c  to  3c;  Summer  do.  6c; 
Okra,  15c;  Green  Corn,  25c  to  35c 
per  doz. ;  Asparagus,  10c  to  12ic  per 
lb.;  Shell  Beans,  5c;  Chile  Peppers, 
15c;  Sweet  Potatoes,  6c  to  8c;  Arti- 
chokes, 25c  to  40c.  per  doz.;  Water- 
melons, 35c  to  50c  each,  and  Cante- 
loupes,  25c  to  50c 

Yellow  Egg  Plums  are  now  in  season 
and  retailing  at  10c  per  lb.  Green 
Gages  are  quoted  at  6c  to  8c  Peach- 
es are  in  abundant  supply,  and  em- 
brace Strawberry,  Morris  White,  Craw- 
ford's Early,  and  Clingstone.  Pears 
are  coming  in  freely.  There  is  a  good 
supply  of  Bartletts  in  first-class  order, 
which  command  8c  per  lb.  The  best 
of  the  Currant  season  is  over,  and  pri- 
ces have  advanced  to  6c  @  8c  per  lb., 
and  35c  to  50c  per  box  of  10  pounds. 
Black  Hamburg,  Rose  of  Peru,  Muscat, 
and  Muscatel  Grapes  are  retailing  at 
12Jc  to  15c;  Sweetwater  and  Native 
do.  at  8c  to  10c  Raspberries  are  30c 
to  35c,  but  there  is  no  demand  for  this 
fruit.  The  rush  for  Blackberries  is  al- 
so over,  and  they  are  slow  of  sale  at 
10c  to  12|c  The  top  price  of  German 
Prunes  may  be  placed  at  15c  per  lb., 
and  Cherry  Plums  do  not  bring  more 
than  10c,  and  Nectarines  are  plentiful 
at  12|c  to  15c     Crab  Apples  are  not  in 


258 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICtJLTUBIST. 


so  much  demand  at  8c.  per  lb. ,  although, 
one  of  the  best  of  fruits  for  preserving. 
Tropical  and  semi-tropical  fruits  and 
nuts  retail  at  the  regular  prices. 

About  the  middle  of  this  month  (Au- 
gust) Huckleberries  will  come  in  from 
some  particular  localities,  as  Mendocino 
and  Marin  counties,  etc.  They  are  a 
rather  different  kind  from  those  in  the 
East,  being  coarser  and  more  seedy  and 
not  considered  generally  so  good  in  fla- 
vor, but  they  pass  tolerably  well  in 
some  persons'  estimation  who  are  fond 
of  that  kind  of  berries. 

At  the  last  of  July  most  kinds  of  sum- 
mer vegetables  were  abundant.  Can- 
teloupes  were  very -plentiful  and  retail- 
ed for  almost  anything  they  would 
bring,  the  quotations  ranging  from  5c. 
to  25c.  each,  as  we  witnessed  in  some 
of  the  streets.  We  think  that  no  part 
of  the  world  can  beat  us  as  to  quality  in 
these  Melons.  There  is  no  rain  to  rot 
them  here,  and  the  weather  in  the  val- 
leys around  is  warm  enough  for  them. 
"Watermelons  were  also  in  good  supply, 
but  prices  were  much  firmer  than  in  the 
case  of  the  Canteloupes,  retailing  for 
15c.  to  25c.  each.  Green  Corn  was 
never  cheaper,  and  the  quality  on  the 
whole  is  good.  They  ranged  from  15c. 
to  25c.  per  doz.  An  excellent  quality 
of  Sweet  Potato  has  come  to  hand  in 
liberal  quantities.  The  price  was  how- 
ever steady  at  6c.  to  8c.  per  lb.  Aspar- 
agus was  scarce  at  10c.  to  12|c.  per  lb. 
and  there  was  very  little  demand  for  it. 
Shell  Beans  were  quoted  at  5c. ;  Chile 
Peppers  at  15c;  Okra  at  15c,  and  Egg 
Plant  at  5c  to  6c  Horseradish  was 
very  scarce  at  20c  to  25c 


The  English  Spaekow. — We  have  re- 
ceived the  following  from  a  correspond- 
ent at  Irvington  on  the  Hudson :  "  Your 
correspondent  E.    B.  B.,    of   German- 


town,  asks  if  the  English  sparrow  will 
destroy  the  buds  of  Pear-trees  ?  I  re- 
member being  told  by  an  observing 
friend  two  years  ago,  that  he  noticed 
from  the  windows  of  his  house  in  Brook- 
lyn, several  sparrows  in  the  top  of  a 
Pear-tree  in  his  next-door  neighbor's 
garden,  very  busy,  and  apparently  pick- 
ing off  the  buds  which  were  just  then 
forming.  To  be  sure  about  it,  he 
watched  them  carefully  through  a  good 
opera -glass,  and  was  convinced  that 
they  were  destroying  almost  every  bud 
upon  the  tree.  Since  that  time  I  have 
waited  in  full  expectation  of  hearing 
the  very  complaint  now  made  by  your 
correspondent,  and  I  expect  to  hear 
many  more,  when  we  get  better  ac- 
quainted with  this  imported  little  pilfer- 
er. It  is  natural  enough  for  a  city  man 
to  consider  a  bird  valuable  that  destroys 
the  worms  on  his  shade-trees;  but  we, 
who  live  in  the  country,  have  some 
other  interests  to  cherish,  and  while  we 
desire  the  destruction  of  insects,  do  not 
wish  to  associate  it  with  the  banishment 
of  the  blue -birds,  wrens,  and  other 
house-living  birds,  nor  with  the  de- 
struction of  our  fruit,  berry,  and  grain 
crops.  I  trust  the  agitation  of  this 
subject  will  continue  until  we  all  know 
exactly  what  is  our  duty — whether  to 
shoot  or  to  cherish  this  irrepressible 
foreigner." — Eastern  Ex. 


God  Almighty  first  planted  a  garden, 
and  indeed  it  is  the  purest  of  all  human 
pleasures.  It  is  the  greatest  refresh- 
ment to  the  spirits  of  man,  without 
which  buildings  and  palaces  are  but 
gross  handiworks,  and  a  man  shall  ever 
see  that  when  ages  grow  to  civility  and 
elegance,  men  come  to  build  stately 
sooner  than  to  garden  finely,  as  if  gar- 
dening were  the  greater  perfection. — 
Lord  Bacon. 


THE    CALIFOKXIA    HOKTICULTCBIST. 


259 


Editorial  6leamu().si. 


Edible  Fungi. — Very  few  siDecirnens 
of  fungi  are  popularly  recognized  as  be- 
ing edible,  •while  prejudice  in  some 
cases,  and  fear  of  poison  in  others,  will 
always  prevent  additions  to  the  small 
number  now  used  as  food.  Great  cau- 
tion is  undoubtedly  proper  in  the  essay 
of  the  untried  species;  but  prejudice 
and  ignorance  should  not  stand  in  the 
way  and  prevent  the  use  of  the  many 
esculent  species  which  are  allowed  to 
rot  in  untold  thousands.  Science  will 
no  doubt  dissipate  these  fears  and  prej- 
udices, and  make  ±o  our  food-crop  a 
large  and  cheap  addition. 

Hills,  plains,  valleys,  fields,  and  pas- 
tures all  over  the  world  are  as  alive  with 
these  nutritious  fungi  as  the  soil  of  Ne- 
braska is  with  grasshoppers.  Millions 
of  tons  of  them  are  allowed  to  rot  where 
they  spring  up,  simply  because  igno- 
rance or  fear  prevents  their  utilization 
as  food.  It  is  true  that  the  distinction 
between  the  edible  mushroom  and  some 
of  its  unpleasant  cousins  can  not  be 
easily  understood  by  any  but  botanists, 
and  yet  this  difficulty  might  be  materi- 
ally obviated  if  botanic  writers  would 
describe  the  distinctions  in  words  that 
could  be  popularly  understood,  or  that, 
at  least,  may  be  found  in  diction- 
aries. The  botanical  nomenclature  may 
be  as  good  as  it  is  ingenious,  but  to  non- 
botanists  it  is  as  incomprehensible  as 
the  inscriptions  on  the  Elgin  marbles. 
Let  it  be  preserved  for  bookworms,  if 
need  must,  but  let  it  be  also  translated 
for  common  use. 

Among  the  remarkable  esculents  of 
this  class  may  be  mentioned  the  "  beef- 
steak fungus.''  It  is  juicy  and  fleshy, 
and  its  sections  resemble  beef  in  appear- 
ance. Dr.  Badham,  a  student  of  fungi, 
found  one  of  them  five  feet  in  circum- 
ference and  weighing  eight  pounds,  and 


another  was  found  by  a  Mr.  Graves, 
nearly  twenty  feet  in  circumference  and 
weighing  thirty  pounds.  It  grows  in 
parts  of  Germany,  where  it  is  sliced  and 
eaten  with  salad,  and  it  is  highly  es- 
teemed as  nutritious  food.  A  species 
of  puff-ball,  botanically  known  as  lyco- 
perdon  giganteum,  when  young  is  of  a 
cream-like  consistence  and  an  excellent 
addition  to  the  breakfast  menu.  A  sin- 
gle one  is  large  enough  to  feed  ten  or 
twelve  persons,  and  some  members  of 
the  species  are  a  good  substitute  for 
truffles.  A  specimen  mentioned  in  the 
Gardener's  Chronicle  weighed  ten  pounds 
and  was  three  feet  four  inches  in  cir- 
cumference. 


To  Peeseeve  Flowees. — Choose  some 
of  the  most  perfect  buds  of  the  flowers 
you  wish  to  preserve,  such  as  are  latest 
in  bloom,  and  just  before  they  are  ready 
to  open,  cut  them  from  the  bush  with  a 
pair  of  scissors,  leaving  to  each  a  stem 
at  least  three  inches  long,  and  see  that 
you  do  not  scar  or  break  the  skin  of 
this  stem.  After  you  cut  the  flowers 
from  the  bush,  seal  the  end  of  the  stem 
with  Spanish  wax,  lay  the  flowers  away 
in  a  cool  dry  room,  and  when  you  no- 
tice the  buds  are  a  little  shrunk,  wrap 
each  one  up  separately  in  clean  white 
paper,  being  careful  not  to  crush  any 
part  of  the  bud.  Then  lock  up  in  a 
drawer  so  as  to  be  separate.  In  mid- 
winter, or  any  time  you  wish  to  have 
the  flowers  bloom,  take  the  buds  early 
in  the  morning,  cut  off  the  stems  of  the 
buds,  have  a  vase  of  cool  but  not  cold 
water  in  which  put  a  little  nitre  or  salt, 
keep  your  vase  in  a  warmish  atmosphere, 
and  the  next  evening  you  will  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  the  buds  exactly  as 
they  would  be  on  their  native  bushes,  dis- 
playing their  most  lively  colors  and  ex- 
haling their  most  agreeable  odors. 


260 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


The  "Wild  Flowers  of  California. — 
Whosoever  lias  seen  a  little  of  Califor- 
nia will  forgive  us  for  loving  our  wild 
flowers.  They  are  so  many  and  so 
beautiful  that  we  can  not  withhold  the 
expression  of  our  admiration.  We  used 
to  love,  and  we  love  yet,  the  modest, 
shy  little  Violet  that  in  the  East  was 
almost  snow-born,  and  which  timidly 
put  forth  its  azure  petals  on  the  first 
touch  of  May.  We  loved  it  for  asso- 
ciations broken  up  long  ago.  But  how 
little  is  the  whole  sisterhood  of  flowers 
at  the  East  compared  with  the  glories 
of  a  Californian  spring  ?  We  go  out  up- 
on our  hill-sides  at  that  season  and  find 
miracles  of  beauty  everywhere  under 
pur  feet — not  single  flowers,  but  a  wil- 
derness of  sweetness  and  beauty,  never 
to  be  forgotten.  We  have  counted  in 
one  morning  twenty-nine  varieties  with- 
in less  than  the  area  of  an  acre,  and 
some  of  them  exquisitely  pure  in  color 
and  in  symmetry.  On  all  the  foot-hills 
and  mountain  sides  of  California,  even 
far  into  its  arid  summer,  flowers  burst 
up  from  among  rocks  which  seem  hard- 
ly able  to  give  a  foot-hold  for  aught  so 
delicate  and  fragile,  challenging  your 
admiration  and  almost  seeming  to  re- 
joice that  the  wandering  feet  of  a 
stranger  have  led  him  where  his  eyes 
could  feast  upon  their  beauties,  which 
else  had  never  been  seen  by  man.  Our 
gardens  are  beautiful  with  the  chosen 
flowers  of  every  clime  and  country,  but 
the  retiring  beauties  of  our  hill-side 
canyons  have  a  charm  for  us  that  no 
tricks  of  the  gardener's  skill  can  imitate 
or  approach. 


It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  so  many 
boys  and  young  men  engage  in  the  wan- 
ton destruction  of  birds.  It  is  a  bar- 
barous "sport,"  in  which  no  parent 
ought  to  allow  a  child  to  indulge.     No 


possible  good  is  to  be  derived  from  the 
destruction  of  the  birds.  They  are  the 
friends,  not  the  enemies  of  the  farmer. 
They  do  some  damage  it  is  true,  but 
they  prevent  a  great  deal  more.  While 
they  are  picking  up  a  few  kernels  of 
grain  they  destroy  a  great  many  bugs 
and  worms  which  would  otherwise  prey 
upon  the  crop.  Even  the  crow,  which 
is  almost  universally  despised,  does  far 
more  good  than  evil.  By  coating  the 
seed  with  tar,  or  surrounding  the  piece 
with  twine,  he  can  be  kept  from  mo- 
lesting corn-fields,  and  during  the  warm 
season  will  busy  himself  in  destroying 
the  insect  enemies  of  the  farmer.  The 
robins  pick  some  Cherries,  but  they 
might  as  well  have  them  as  to  allow 
them  to  fall  a  prey  to  their  insect  foes. 
Certainly  birds  are  prettier,  and  they 
are  to  be  chosen  for  company  in  prefer- 
ence to  bugs  and  worms.  One  or  the 
other  we  must  have.  If  we  drive  away 
the  birds  the  insects  will  overrun  our 
premises.  This  being  the  case  it  would 
seem  to  be  a  prudent  policy  to  allow 
the  birds  to  remain. 


Sulphur  the  Grapes.  —  There  is  but 
one  perfect  and  reliable  remedy  for  mil- 
dew on  the  Grape-vines,  and  this  is  sul- 
phur, as  it  is  called  by  the  druggists; 
sprinkled  over  the  leaves  and  fruit- 
cones  it  will  prevent  mildew  in  any 
and  every  vineyard.  This  can  be  done 
very  rapidly,  and  the  sulphur  costs  but 
little.  On  vines  growing  on  low-lands, 
as  the  river-bottoms,  or  where  the  vines 
have  heretofore  mildewed,  we  would 
recommend  to  make  an  application  now 
and  another  say  in  two  weeks.  To  ap- 
ply it  take  a  common  tin  can  and  punch 
holes  in  the  bottom  like  the  cover  of  a 
pepper-box.  Filling  the  can  partly  full 
of  sulphur,  shake  it  over  the  vine  so  as 
to  cover  all  the  leaves,  and  particularly 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


261 


the  fruit  cones  or  bunches.  This  should 
be  done  in  the  morning,  when  there  is 
no  wind  and  when  the  leaves  are  wet 
with  dew.  Sulphur  is  not  only  a  pre- 
ventive to  mildew,  but  is  one  of  the 
best  manures  for  the  vine.  Applied  to 
the  leaves  it  is  carried  to  the  roots,  and 
finally  is  worked  into  the  fruit  itself 
and  gives  the  vine  life  and  vigor. 


Save  Your  Squirrels. — Governor  Pa- 
checo  received  the  following  letter  from 
Miles  Brothers,  manufacturers  of  brush- 
es in  Brooklyn,  New  York:  "Some- 
time since  we  saw  in  the  papers  that 
your  State  was  overrun  with  squirrels. 
Now,  these  little  animals  enter  largely 
into  the  manufacture  of  brushes.  The 
hair  on  their  tails  is  the  so-called  cam- 
el's-hair.  The  skins  are  imported  from 
Germany  and  Kussia  by  the  hundred 
thousand.  The  price  several  years  ago 
was  $10  per  thousand,  but  it  has  ad- 
vanced until  they  are  now  worth  $30  to 
$40  per  thousand,  and  it  is  still  advan- 
cing. We  do  not  believe  they  are  both- 
ered much  with  squirrels  in  the  old 
country,  and  California  need  not  be  if 
it  was  suggested  that  the  State  offer  so 
much  a  head  (or  tail)  for  them;  or  per- 
haps the  farmers  or  their  boys  would 
take  hold  and  kill  them  off.  A  market 
can  be  found  for  all  that  are  killed. 
Should  you  think  well  of  this  you  might 
have  it  published  in  some  of  the  papers. 
No  doubt  many  ways  could  be  found  for 
bringing  the  skins  to  market  if  this  was 
generally  known." — Sacramento  Record. 


The  Lemon  and  Orange  Malady. — A 
malady  which  threatens  great  loss  to 
owners  of  Lemon  plantations  has  at- 
tacked the  Lemon-plant.  Its  origin  is 
believed  to  be  forced  cultivation  of  the 
fruit,  which  has  taken  place  during  the 


last  few  years.  The  Lemon  -  tree  was 
originally  a  native  of  the  dry  and  hot 
soil  of  Persia,  whence  it  has  been  trans- 
ferred to  various  other  countries,  where 
under  different  circumstances  of  soil  and 
climate  it  has  been  made  largely  to  in- 
crease its  yield.  The  disease  is  a  dry 
rot,  which  seizes  the  extremities  first 
and  then  gradually  spreads  through  the 
whole  tree,  drying  up  the  sap  in  its 
course.  It  is  said  that  similar  symp- 
toms have  been  observed  in  Orange 
plantations.  Some  experienced  grow- 
ers have  suggested  the  grafting  of  cut- 
tings from  the  healthy  Lemon-plant  on 
the  wild  Orange -tree,  that  a  new  stock 
of  plants  may  be  obtained. 


Sweet  and  Sour  Combined  in  One 
Apple.  —  Doubts  are  entertained  by 
some  pomologists  as  regards  the  truth 
of  the  statement  made  that  Apples  have 
been  grown  in  which  two  or  more  vari- 
eties were  blended  into  one;  that  is, 
Apples  having  one  section  sweet  and 
the  other  sour.  We  have  seen  such 
fruit,  and  therefore  know  that  it  has 
been  produced.  A  tree  bearing  Apples 
of  this  nature  formerly  stood  in  a  gen- 
tleman's garden  in  Georgetown,  Mass. 
It  was  of  large  size,  and  some  years 
produced  several  bushels  of  fruit.  The 
owner  sold  the  Apples  as  curiosities, 
and  frequently  individual  specimens 
brought  large  prices.  It  was  exceed- 
ingly interesting  to  examine  the  crop, 
as  one  Apple  differed  widely  from  an- 
other, and  there  was  difficulty  in  find- 
ing two  precisely  alike.  A  few  were 
found  in  which  almost  exactly  one-half 
was  sweet  and  the  other  sour,  but  a  ma- 
jority were  made  up  differently.  Sec- 
tions, one-quarter  or  one  -  sixteenth, 
more  or  less,  would  be  sweet  or  sour, 
and  the  remainder  would  be  of  the  op- 
posite kind.     The  line  of  demarcation 


262 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


on  the  skin  was  distinctly  denned,  the 
sour  portion  having  a  reddish  color, 
while  the  sweet  was  of  a  pale  green. 
There  was  no  mistaking  the  flavor;  the 
sour  portion  was  very  sour,  and  the 
sweet  very  sweet.  On  the  same  tree 
Apples  grew  which  were  uniform  in 
kind,  some  being  entirely  sweet  and 
others  entirely  sour.  This  pomological 
freak  was  brought  about  by  a  careless 
process  of  budding,  two  buds  of  differ- 
ent varieties  being  divided,  and  one- 
half  of  each  joined  together,  so  as  to  ad- 
here and  grow  in  that  condition.  As 
none  of  this  fruit  has  been  seen  of  late 
years,  we  conclude  that  the  tree  has 
perished. — Boston  Journal  of  Chemistry. 


Sunflowers  foe  Fevees. — Favorable 
mention  continues  to  be  made  of  the 
virtues  of  Sunflowers  as  preventives  of 
bilious  fever,  chills  and  fever,  etc.  A 
correspondent  writing  from  a  place  in 
Alabama,  which  he  says  was  peculiarly 
subject  to  fevers,  gives  the  results  of 
his  experience  in  the  premises,  and  in 
not  a  single  instance  where  he  planted 
Sunflowers  around  his  negro  cabins  did 
their  inmates  suffer  from  fevers,  while 
his  wife,  two  children  and  two  house- 
servants  all  had  fevers,  he  not  having 
planted  any  of  the  Sunflowers  around 
his  dwelling,  which,  in  his  opinion,  ac- 
counted for  the  difference  in  the  results. 


On  Washing  House  Plants. — Have  a 
large  pail  or  tub  filled  with  warm  soap- 
suds; then  spreading  the  fingers  and 
palm  of  the  left  hand  over  the  soil  in 
the  pot,  turn  the  branches  topsy-turvy 
into  the  warm  soap-suds,  swing  the 
plant  briskly  in  the  water  till  every  leaf 
has  become  completely  saturated,  then 
put  it  through  a  pail  of  clean  water,  and 
rub  each  leaf  with  the  thumb  and  finger; 


give  it  a  good  shake,  and  when  dry  re- 
turn it  to  its  place  in  the  window.  The 
leaves  of  a  plant  are  its  lungs,  each  leaf 
being  furnished  with  hundreds  of  minute 
spores,  whence  the  plants  breathe  in 
carbon  and  exhale  oxygen.  The  per- 
spiration of  plants  is  said  to  be  seven- 
teen times  that  of  the  human  body. 
Many  plants  never  bloom  on  account  of 
the  accumulation  of  dust  upon  their 
leaves.  A  plant  too  large  to  be  laid 
down  in  a  tub,  as  above  described,  may 
be  syringed,  and  each  leaf  rubbed  clean 
with  the  finger  and  thumb,  which  are 
better  for  this  purpose  than  a  brush  or 
cloth — Land  and  Water. 


Vine  Cultuee  in  Algeria. — The  Lon- 
don Times  says :  ' '  The  culture  of  the 
vine  in  Algeria  is  shown  by  a  return  to 
be  steadily  increasing.  In  1858,  4,374 
hectares  only  were  planted  with  vines; 
now  there  are  26,000.  In  1864,  63,000 
hectolitres  of  wine  were  made;  in  1860, 
100,000  hectolitres;  and  in  1874,  400,000 
hectolitres.  The  climate  of  Algeria  is, 
moreover,  specially  suited  to  the  vine, 
which  two  years  after  planting  reaches  a 
height  of  over  four  feet,  and  in  the  third 
year  begins  to  bear.  The  soil  is  most 
favorable,  and  the  dreaded  phylloxera  is 
as  yet  unknown.  Even  on  the  mount- 
ains the  vines  can  be  cultivated  at  a 
height  of  2,100  feet,  2,400  feet,  and 
even  3,000  feet.  Under  these  circum- 
stances hopes  are  confidently  expressed 
that  Algeria  will  soon  be  able  to  make 
enough  wine  not  only  for  her  own  con- 
sumption, but  also  for  exportation. 


Shade  -  teees  in  the  Streets.  —  It  is 
gratifying  to  observe  that  people  resid- 
ing in  the  Western  Addition  are  active- 
ly engaged  in  planting  shade-trees  in 
the   streets.       The   Eucalyptus  globulus 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


263 


(Australian  Blue  Gum)  is  the  favorite, 
because  of  its  sturdiness  and  rapid 
growth.  If  this  practice  of  ornament- 
ing the  streets  with  trees  continues  to 
meet  with  favor,  the  entire  community 
will  be  a  great  gainer.  In  this  connec- 
tion, we  are  informed  that  the  Real  Es- 
tate Associates  will  hereafter  plant  trees 
in  front  of  all  their  houses. — Call. 


Value  of  Earth-worms. — Mr.  Josiah 
Parkes,  the  eminent  English  agricult- 
ural engineer,  found  that  earth-worms 
were  of  great  assistance  in  land-drainage. 
He  says  they  love  moist,  but  not  wet 
soils,  and  will  bore  down  to  water,  but 
not  into  it.     In  examining  a  field  which 
he  had  deeply  drained  after  long  pre- 
vious shallow  drainage,  he  found  that 
the    worms   had   greatly  increased   in 
number,    and    their    bores    descended 
quite  to  the  level  of  the  pipes.     Many 
of  the  worm-holes  were  large  enough 
to  receive  the  little  finger,  and  it  was 
evident   that   one    worm    had    several 
bores,  some  of  which  are  used  in  dry 
weather,  and  some  a3  refuge  from  rain. 
A  piece  of  land  in  Lincolnshire,  over 
which  the  sea  had  broken  and  killed 
the   worms,  remained  sterile  until  the 
worms  again  inhabited  it.     There  was 
a  piece  of   pasture  land  near  his  house 
in  which  the  worms  were  in  such  num- 
bers that  he  thought  their  casts  inter- 
fered too  much  with  the  grass,  and  he 
had  the  field  rolled  at  night  in  order  to 
destroy  them.     The  result  was  that  the 
productiveness   of    the   field   declined, 
and  was  not  restored  until  the  worms 
had    recruited    their   numbers,    which 
was  aided  by  collecting  and  transport- 
ing multitudes  of  worms  from  the  fields 
adjoining.     The  great  depth  to  which 
the  worms  will  bore,  and  from  which 
they  cast  up  fine  fertile  soil  to  the  sur- 
face,  has  been   described  by   Mr.    C. 


Darwin,  of  Kent,  who  states  that  in  a 
few  years  they  have  elevated  the  sur- 
face of  fields  by  a  layer  of  fine  mold 
several  inches  thick,  thus  adding  to  the 
fertility  of  the  soil. 


Southern    California    Honey.  —  Mr. 
Lankershim  informs  us  that  Mr.  Harbi- 
son, in  a  conversation  had  with  him, 
stated   that  the  honey  product  of  San 
Diego  County  this  year  would  be  fully 
six   hundred   tons.     Last   year   it  was 
two  hundred  tons.     One    million   two 
hundred   thousand    pounds    of   honey 
from  a  single  county  is  prodigious  for 
an  industry  only  about  three  years  old. 
At  only  ten  cents  a  pound  net,  it  would 
amount   to   one  hundred    and   twenty 
thousand  dollars.     Los  Angeles  Coun- 
ty, also,  is  making  tremendous  advan- 
ces in  the  honey  culture,  and  in  a  few 
years  the  two  counties  will  supply  the 
world.     The   honey   of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia is  without  a  rival  in  quality  and 
flavor  in  any  market.     It  is  only  dur- 
ing the  last  twenty  years  that  bees  have 
been  known  in  California,  and    to-day 
the  business  of  the  apiarist  promises  to 
be  one  of  the  most  important  in  the 
southern   portions   of   our    State. — Los 
Angeles  Express. 


Saving  and  Sowing  Fuchsla  Seed. — 
There  is  no  more  ornamental  plant  for 
the  parlor,  greenhouse,  or  conservatory 
than  the  Fuchsia,  and  the  manner  of 
propagating  it  should  be  known  to  ev- 
ery lover  of  flowers.  A  florist  writing 
to  the  Cottage  Gardener  says  the  berries 
should  be  left  on  the  jDlant  till  they  are 
quite  black,  and  part  readily  from  it. 
When  gathered,  the  seeds  should  be 
squeezed  in  a  basin  of  water  until  they 
become  separated  from  the  pulp.  Drain 
off  the  water  and  pulp  and  set  the  basin 


264 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


on  its  side,  in  a  dry  place,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  drying  the  seed.  "When  dry, 
wrap  them  in  a  paper  and  keep  them 
until  spring.  Sow  in  February  or 
March,  in  pots  or  pans,  well  drained, 
and  filled  to  within  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
of  the  rim  with  a  compost  of  two- 
thirds  sandy  fibrous  loam,  one -sixth 
leaf  mold,  and  about  one-sixth  of  silver 
sand.  The  compost  should  be  sifted. 
Place  unsifted  compost  from  the  sieve 
to  the  depth  of  an  inch  over  the  soil  al- 
ready in  the  pots,  and  over,  this  sifted 
soil.  Then  press  with  the  bottom  of  a 
flower-pot.  Scatter  the  seeds  evenly, 
then  cover  them  lightly  to  the  depth  of 
about  the  thickness  of  the  seed.  Give  a 
gentle  watering,  and  place  the  pots  in  a 
house  where  there  is  a  temperature  of 
from  55°  to  60°  at  night,  and  70°  to  80° 
by  day,  keeping  the  soil  moist.  "When 
the  plants  appear,  give  j)lenty  of  light 
and  air. 

According  to  Deherain,  leaves  kept 
in  a  confined  atmosphere  in  darkness 
will  absorb  all  of  the  oxygen  and  still 
continue  to  give  off  carbonic  acid,  the 
resistance  to  asphyxia  varying  with  the 
species.  The  rapidity  of  growth  and 
energy  of  respiration  of  plants  are  both 
favored  by  obscure  heat;  and  it  is 
shown  that  the  internal  combustion,  by 
the  absorption  of  oxygen  and  the  emis- 
sion of  carbonic  acid,  is  the  origin  of 
the  part  of  the  heat  necessary  to  the 
elaboration  of  new  proximate  principles 
in  the  plant. 

Dwarf  Apples.  —  G.  Ellwanger,  of 
Kochester,  whose  views  are  worthy  of 
entire  confidence,  gives  the  following 
list  of  Apples  best  adapted  for  dwarfs : 
Summer  —  Astrachan,  Early  Harvest, 
Keswick  Codlin,  Sweet  Bough.  Au- 
tumn —  Gravenstein,  Oldenburgh,  St. 
Lawrence,  Chenango  Strawberry.     Win- 


ter— Wagener,  Baldwin,  Melon,  North- 
ern Spy,  Twenty  Ounce,  Bed  Canada, 
Yellow  Bellflower,  Esopus  Spitzenberg, 
Lady  Apple. 

Freesia  Leichtlinii. — "A  beautiful 
and  sweet-scented  bulbous  plant/'  says 
the  Gardener's  Chronicle,  "with  crowded 
lanceolate,  glabrous  leaves,  sheathing 
at  the  base,  and  a  central  spathe  bear- 
ing a  one-sided  curved  spike.  The 
flowers  are  funnel-shaped,  white  when 
they  first  open,  buff-colored  subse- 
quently.    It  is  said  to  be  hardy." 


Window  Foliage  Plants. — Taking  it 
for  granted  that  something  very  easy  to 
grow  and  to  procure  is  desired,  we 
should  say — variegated  Veronica  speci- 
osa,  or  some  of  the  variegated  varieties 
of  the  shrubby  Australian  species — va- 
riegated Agapanthus  umbellatus;  Abutilon 
Thompsonii  ;  Epiphyllum  truncatum, 
grafted  —  Tradescanlia  discolor,  and 
Aralia  papyri/era. 


METEOROLOGICAL    RECORD, 
Fob  the  Month  ending  July  31,  1875. 

(Prepared  for  The  Horticulturist  by  Thos.  Teitnent, 
Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No, 
423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office) . 

BAROMETER. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.06  in. 

do  12m 30.06 

do  3p.m 30.05 

do  6  p.  m 30.04 

Highest  point  on  the  17th,  at  12  m 30.13 

Lowest  point  on  the  3d,  at  12  m 29.95 

THERMOMETER. 
(  With  north  exposure  and  free  from  reflected  heat.) 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 63° 

do  12  M 65° 

do  3p.ii 65° 

do  6  p.  m 61° 

Highest  point  on  the  2d,  at  12  m 76c 

Lowest  point  on  the  12th,  at  6  p.  m 56° 

SELF  -  REGISTERING    THERMOMETER. 

Mean  height  during  the  night 52° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  5th 57° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  13th,  14th,  23d,  30th.  50° 

WINDS. 
North-west  and  west  on  31  days. 

WEATHER. 

Clear  on  4  days  ;  the  remainder  of  the  month,  cloudy 
mornings,  with  clear  weather  and  sea  breeze  in  the 
afternoons,  and  foggy  evenings. 


]^EW    fi 


ybrid   Gladiolus. 


THE 


AND   FLORAL  MAGAZINE. 


Vol.  V.  SAN"   FRANCISCO,  SEPTEMBER,    1875.  No.  9. 


ROSE  -  CULTURE. 


BY   F.    A.    MILLEE. 


[Continued.] 

A  very  essential  point  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  Koses  is  to  produce  young  and 
vigorous  growth,  and  this  can  be  ob- 
tained only  by  cutting  back  the  old 
wood  after  the  flowering  season  and 
when  sufficiently  matured.  I  am  fre- 
quently told  that  the  Hybrid  Perpetual 
Roses  will  scarcely  produce  a  flower 
after  the  month  of  June.  This  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  too  much  wood  is  al- 
lowed to  grow  and  weaken  the  plants. 
We  usually  cut  back  our  Roses  after 
their  first  flowering  season  as  severely 
as  we  do  during  the  winter  months,  and 
the  consequence  is  that  we  obtain  a  new 
and  vigorous  growth,  followed  by  a 
good  crop  of  flowers  during  midsum- 
mer. As  soon  as  the  wood  is  sufficient- 
ly hardened,  we  cut  back  again,  and  se- 
cure a  third  crop  of  good  flowers  during 
autumn,  and  sufficient  growth  to  insure 
some  flowers  during  the  early  winter 
months. 

This  method  does  not  apply  to  all 

Roses.     Most  of  the  Bourbon,  Tea,  and 

China  Roses   continue   to  flower  very 

well  throughout  the  summer    months 

Vol.  V.— 27. 


and  the  early  j)art  of  winter  without  the 
cutting-back  process;  and  such  as  Ma- 
dame Bosanquet,  Hermosa,  Agrippina, 
and  others,  seem  to  do  best  if  let  alone. 
But  in  all  cases  it  is  very  essential  that 
the  ground  be  thoroughly  cultivated 
and  kept  moist.  Roses  will  not  do  well 
if  kept  dry;  and  when  dryness  of  soil 
and  atmosphere  is  coupled  with  chilly 
winds  such  as  we  have  on  the  immedi- 
ate coast,  no  one  need  be  surprised  that 
our  Roses  are  in  a  very  bad  state  during 
the  summer  months. 

Roses  should  also  be  allowed  plenty 
of  room,  and  a  light  sunny  exposure. 
In  shady  places,  or  crowded  in  between 
stronger  -  growing  shrubs,  we  can  not 
expect  a  very  healthy  growth. 

Roses  are  the  most  desirable  cut- 
flowers,  and,  as  I  said  before,  they  form 
the  most  important  item  in  the  bou- 
quet trade  of  the  East  and  Europe. 
But  our  Roses  are  not  what  they  should 
be,  on  account  of  deficiency  in  culti- 
vation and  proper  attention.  Growing 
of  Roses  for  the  market,  I  think,  should 
be  done  under  glass,  at  least  during  our 
winter  seasons;  but  to  do  this  success- 
fully requires  a  system  different  from 
our  present  one.  As  I  have  already 
stated,  a  certain  temperature  must  be 


266 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


kept  up  by  artificial  heat,  which  can  be 
done  at  much  less  expense  here  than  in 
colder  climates.  On  this  subject,  how- 
ever, I  will  say  a  few  words  at  some 
future  time. 

In  the  growing  of  Roses  in  the  open 
air,  I  would  again  refer  to  my  remarks 
upon  the  subject  in  the  last  number  of 
the  Horticulturist,  and  would  only  add 
that  florists  and  nurserymen  ought  to 
be  more  particular  in  selecting  for  prop- 
agation healthy  wood,  free  from  mildew; 
and  where  budding  is  practiced,  to  work 
upon  stock  least  subject  to  mildew,  and 
also  to  discard  entirely  those  varieties 
which  have  been  most  affected  by  mil- 
dew. If  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  pro- 
cure healthy  and  clean  wood  for  propa- 
gation, then  I  would  certainly  be  in 
favor  of  importing  clean  stock  from  the 
East  or  Europe  for  that  purpose,  at  least 
for  two  or  three  years. 

With  all  these  precautions  we  may 
not  be  able  to  check  the  ravages  of  mil- 
dew entirely,  but  we  may  be  enabled  to 
confine  the  evil  to  certain  limits,  and 
with  the  assistance  of  some  simple  rem- 
edy, such  as  tobacco-water,  a  weak  di- 
lution of  sulphurous  acid,  or  simply 
warm  water,  applied  to  the  roots  as  well 
as  foliage,  keep  our  Roses  free  from  the 
effect  of  this  plague. 

[To  be  Continued.] 


Suckers  in  the  Orchards. — All  through 
the  growing  season  we  should  look  after 
suckers  starting  at  the  roots  of  orchard 
trees,  and  remove  them  while  they  are 
yet  young  and  tender.  It  takes  much 
of  the  tree's  power  to  grow  and  harden 
a  large  sucker,  so  the  sooner  the  young 
sprout  is  removed,  the  more  we  make 
by  the  operation.  We  go  for  them  with 
our  hands,  rubbing  or  jerking  them  off 
— it  don't  hurt  the  tree;  there  is  no 
danger  of  that. 


THE    PHYLLOXEEA  VASTATEIX    IN 
AUSTEIA. 

The  following  account  of  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Phylloxera  vastatrix  in  Aus- 
tria is  condensed  from  a  late  official 
publication  of  the  Austrian  Minister  of 
Agriculture : 

In  France,  in  1865,  at  Pujaut,  near 
Roquemaure,  Department  du  Gard,  for 
the  first  time  an  insect  was  observed 
injuring  the  roots  of  grape  -  vines  so 
that  they  died.  The  occurrence  excited 
chiefly  the  interest  of  scientists,  and  it 
was  believed  to  be  the  same  insect 
found  in  galls  on  grape-leaves  by  A. 
Fitch  in  North  America,  and  by  him 
called  Pemphigus  vitifolia.  The  newly- 
discovered  insect,  first  scientifically  de- 
scribed by  Planchon,  evidently  belong- 
ed to  the  Phylloxera*  family,  and  on 
account  of  the  extraordinary  damage 
its  increasing  numbers  inflicted  on  the 
vineyards,  it  was  termed  vastatrix. 

In  1868  France  awoke  to  the  neces- 
sity of  adopting  energetic  measures  for 
the  suppression  of  this  scourge,  which, 
almost  unnoticed,  has  assumed  fearful 
dimensions.  The  question  was  asked 
(and  it  is  not  yet  answered),  is  this 
insect  of  native  or  foreign  origin  ?  In 
some  places,  as  Bordeaux,  they  believe 
in  its  introduction  on  American  vines, 
which  nevertheless  withstand  its  at- 
tacks much  better  than  their  own. 
Then  there  is  the  fact  that,  except  in  a 
few  instances  in  France,  it  is  only  found 
on  the  roots  in  Europe,  which  renders 
it  possible  we  have  two  species  of 
insects  to  deal  with.  A  French  scien- 
tist, Loarer,  thinks  the  phylloxera  was 
introduced  from    the   East   Indies    by 

*  The  name  Phylloxera,  from  phyllon,  a  leaf,  and  xer- 
ainein,  to  dry,  a  name  given  by  Fouscolombe  in  1834  to 
the  species  found  on  oak  trees.  Four  species  of  Phyl- 
loxera are  now  known,  viz:  P.  quercus  on  summer  oak, 
Quercus  robur,  L.\  P.  quercus,  on  white  oak,  Q.  alba;  P. 
Lichtensleinii  on  Q.  coccifera;  P.  vastatrix  on  Q.  vitis. 
The  first  three  are  probably  harmless. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


267 


eggs  brought  to  Marseilles*  in  bales  of 
merchandise.  But  after  all  there  is 
nothing  to  hinder  the  presumption  that 
the  insect  has  always  accompanied  the 
vine,j"  though  formerly  unnoticed,  and 
that  favorable  conditions  of  weather, 
etc.,  have  enabled  it  to  increase  at  the 
present  time  with  such  alarming  rapid- 

ity. 

The  number  of  remedies  which  have 
been  proposed  and  tried  is  enormous. 
The  Herault  commission  alone  experi- 
mented with  124  in  the  domain  of  Las 
Sorres  from  January  to  June,  1873, 
including  the  following  substances: 
Verdigris,  phenic  acid,  sulphuric  acid, 
garlic,  aloes,  alum,  ammonia,  nitrate  of 
silver,  potters'  clay,  arsenious  acid,  ar- 
senic sulphide,  asafcetida,  gypsum,  cal- 
omel, camphor,  carbonate  of  lime,  car- 
bonate of  potash,  wood-ashes,  charcoal 
in  powder,  bone-meal,  chlorate  of  pot- 
assa,  corrosive  sublimate,  chrome,  seal- 
ing-wax, decoction  of  poppies,  leather- 
scraps,  blue  vitriol  and  other  salts  of 
copper,  sea-water,  compost,  turpentine, 
sulphate  of  iron,  horse-dung,  wood-tar, 
Peruvian  guano,  bran,  sulphur,  oil  of 
juniper,  olive  oil,  naphtha,  petroleum, 
potassic  permanganate,  mercuric  sul- 
phate,, saltpetre,  bone-charcoal,  nux- 
vomica,  walnut-leaves,  benzine,  ground 
apatite,  goat-hair,  sulphate  of  potash, 

*  Drouyn  de  l'Huys,  in  his  address  before  the  grape- 
growers'  congress  Jat  Montpelier,  October  26,  1874,  ap- 
peared to  agree  with  this  opinion.  In  the  East  Indies 
proper  there  are,  however,  no  grape-vines,  these  being 
grown  only  in  Afghanistan  and  Nepaul. 

t  Experienced  gardeners  in  Klosterneuburg  have  stat- 
ed that  the  vineyards  in  which  the  phylloxera  first  ap- 
peared were  destroyed  about  a  hundred  years  ago  by 
some  cause  which  was  never  satisfactorily  explained* 
And  it  is  said  that  in  Hungary,  near  Szegedin  and 
There-seinopel,  between  sixty  and  one  hundred  years 
ago,  an  insect  appeared  on  the  roots  of  the  vine  as 
destructive  as  the  phylloxera  now  is.  It  was  finally 
extirpated  by  the  use  of  ashes  and  lime.  In  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Gorz,  fifty  to  sixty  years  ago,  a  vine-root 
louse  appeared  that  was  checked  by  a  wet  season ;  and 
it  is  to  be  observed  that  a  special  prayer  in  the  Talmud 
includes  the  vine-louse .  But  these  allusions  may  refer 
to  something  different  from  the  phylloxera. 


pine  sawdust,  poudrette,  Peruvian  bark, 
sea-sand,  white  and  black  soap,  slate- 
meal,  flowers  of  sulphur,  and  sulphur 
in  various  forms  and  combinations, 
soot,  tobacco,  oak-bark,  rape-seedcake, 
pignuts,  sesame,  castor-oil,  urine,  vin- 
egar, creosote,  carbolic  acid,  suds,  etc. 
Some  of  these  are  used  in  mixtures  the 
composition  of  which  is  unknown.  To 
these  remedies  must  be  added  various 
modes  of  treatment,  such  as  boring  the 
trunk  of  the  vine  and  impregnating  the 
sap,  the  planting  of  certain  herbs  near 
the  stalk,  as  hoarhound,  garden  cress, 
chamomile,  pyrethrum,  etc.;  also  the 
introduction  of  natural  enemies  of  the 
phylloxera,  as  lady  -  bugs,  pselaphus, 
chrysopa,  ants,  and  spiders.  None  of 
these  have  proved  completely  success- 
ful remedies.  Many  of  them  certainly 
destroy  the  insects,  but  the  difficulty 
lies  in  obtaining  the  necessary  contact, 
which  it  is  often  impossible  to  accom- 
plish. 

In  1869  Louis  Faucon  proposed  to 
flood  the  grape  vineyards,  and  the  rem- 
edy proved  successful.  It  can,  however, 
only  be  applied  on  level  grounds,  where 
the  necessary  supply  of  water  can  be 
obtained.  Recently  it  has  been  said 
only  to  prove  effectual  on  sandy  soil 
with  clay  sub-soil,  a  condition  not  al- 
ways to  be  obtained.  Perhaps  in  some 
cases  the  water  destroys  the  insect,  but 
not  its  eggs. 

Lichtenstein  observes  the  insect  is  not 
found  in  sandy  soil,  and  proposes 
dressing  the  vine-roots  with  sand  by 
raising  them  as  far  as  possible  and 
placing  a  layer  of  sand  in  the  hole  be- 
fore relaying  them. 

Thenard,  in  1873,  found  that  the  car- 
bon disulphide  penetrated  the  soil  to 
a  considerable  distance  from  the  place 
in  which  the  liquid  was  deposited, 
killing  the  insect  and  its  eggs;  but  it 
also  destroyed  the  vines,  so  that  it  can 


268 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


only  be  applied  when  necessity  arises 
for  the  extermination  of  the  pest. 

In  the  report  of  Dumas  to  the  Paris 
Academy  of  Science,  June  4,  1874,  the 
following  summary  remedial  measures 
are  recommended:  As  preventive,  when 
the  plague  first  appears,  all  infected 
stocks  should  be  dug  up  and  burned, 
and  the  soil  thoroughly  poisoned  with 
carbonic  disulphide  or  some  of  its  al- 
kaline salts.  Heavy  manuring  and  the 
application  of  poisons  is  recommended 
when  the  evil  has  obtained  such  foot- 
hold as  to  render  its  extirpation  doubt- 
ful. New  vineyards  should  only  be 
planted  on  sandy  ground,  or  ground 
that  may  be  flooded. 

So  little  has  been  accomplished  by 
way  of  remedy,  that,  in  consideration 
of  the  frightful  loss  resulting  in  1874 
from  the  rapid  spread  of  the  phylloxera, 
the  French  government  offered  a  prize 
of  300,000  francs  for  a  successful  cure. 
The  insect  has  totally  destroyed  200,000 
hectares  of  vineyards  in  the  valley  of 
the  Rhone,  and  has  attacked  nearly  a 
million.  It  was  observed  in  the  forc- 
ing-houses of  England  and  Ireland,  by 
Westwood,  in  1863.  The  Austrian  de- 
partment of  agriculture  was  informed 
of  the  advent  of  the  phylloxera  in 
France  by  the  zoological-botanical  so- 
ciety of  Vienna,  in  1869.  The  manag- 
ers of  the  crown-lands  and  the  agricult- 
ural societies  in  vine-growing  districts 
were  immediately  requested  to  careful- 
ly watch  for  symptoms  of  the  scourge, 
and  the  import  of  vines  from  France  to 
the  school  at  Klosterneuburg  was  ijro- 
hibited.  But  early  in  the  summer  of 
1872  Dr.  L.  Rosier  discovered  the  in- 
sect in  the  experimental  garden  of  pom- 
ology at  Klosterneuburg,  on  some  un- 
healthy-looking Clavner  stocks,  whose 
backwardness  had  been  attributed  by 
the  working  gardeners  to  the  want  of 
the  usual  protection  of  snow  the  pre- 


ceding winter.  About  three  klafters 
distant  were  a  number  of  American 
vines  of  the  Clinton  variety,  partly  from 
Baden  and  partly  from  North  Hoboken, 
in  New  Jersey,  planted  before  any  sus- 
picion had  arisen  that  the  phylloxera 
was  introduced  from  North  America. 
But  notwithstanding  these  and  all  oth- 
er American  varieties  grew  with  won- 
derful luxuriance,  an  examination  of 
their  roots  proved  them  to  be  complete- 
ly colonized  with  phylloxera.  Baron 
von  Babo,  director  of  the  school,  con- 
siders this  fact  as  establishing  a  strong 
probability  that  the  insect  was  intro- 
duced by  the  American  vines,  but  of 
course  it  is  impossible  to  assert  it  as  a 
positive  fact. 

During  1873  no  perceptible  increase 
of  the  malady  in  the  experimental  gar- 
dens was  observed.  Every  conceivable 
method  of  combating  the  pest  was 
adopted,  and  Dr.  Rosier  reported  that 
vines  which  in  1872  were  evidently,  at- 
tacked appeared  to  be  freed  from  it, 
and  were  pushing  vigorous  young  roots, 
especially  where  manure  was  dug  in 
deeply. 

But  in  1874  a  mild  winter  was  follow- 
ed by  a  notable  increase  of  the  insects. 
Cold  winters  and  wet  summers  are 
hence  considered  as  detrimental  to  its 
extension.  Also,  this  year,  the  appear- 
ance of  the  winged  form  gave  rise  to 
dread  of  its  rapid  extension;  examina- 
tion with  the  microscope  proving  that  at 
least  a  part  of  the  flying  insects  were 
females  laden  with  eggs.  Notwith- 
standing the  persistent  efforts  to  unveil 
its  life-history,  it  is  only  recently  we 
are  enabled  to  present  a  detailed  ac- 
count. 

The  vine-louse,  Phylloxera  vastatrix, 
Planchon,  belongs  to  the  class  Insecta, 
order  Heniptera,  sub-order  Homoptera, 
family  of  plant-lice  Phytophthires,  tribe 
of  leaf-lice  Aphides,  in  which  are  nu- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


269 


merous  genera,  as  Bhizobius,  Eriosoma, 
Chermes,  Lachnus,  Aphis,  etc.  The 
vine-louse  appears  to  belong  to  this 
last,  though  Comu  places  it  between 
Ajyhis  and  Coccus.  It  is  small,  as  scarce- 
ly to  be  distinguished  by  the  naked  eye, 
oval,  with  a  thick  body,  and  blunt  ab- 
domen composed  of  seven  rings,  six 
slender  legs  with  short  feet,  a  small, 
beak -shaped,  incurved  head,  with  a 
proboscis  composed  of  four  sucking- 
tubes,  that  usually  lie  on  its  breast. 
Full-grown  insects  are  somewhat  warty, 
and  are  a  bright  yellow. 

Like  other  leaf -lice  they  increase 
parthenogenetically;  the  males  first  ap- 
pear just  before  winter  in  small  num- 
bers in  the  last  brood  of  the  season, 
and  after  impregnation  the  females  lay 
eggs  which  develop  the  following 
spring.  These  eggs  produce  only  fe- 
males, called  nurces,  who,  without  fur- 
ther commerce,  lay  eggs,  and  are  also, 
to  some  extent,  said  to  be  viviparous. 
This  last  fact  has  rarely  been  observed 
in  the  phylloxera,  and  is  doubted  by 
the  French  Academy.  This  method  of 
propagation  continues  until  the  power 
of  a  sexual  increase  is  exhausted,  when 
males,  usually  winged,  are  again  devel- 
oped. At  the  same  time  the  so-called 
"nurces"  become  nymphs  or  dark- 
colored,  winged,  and  perfect  insects. 
By  this  alternation  of  generation  the 
increase  of  numbers  is  enormously  rap- 
id. Reaumur  places  it  at  6,000,000,000 
from  one  female  in  a  summer,  but  this 
is  too  low;  for  if  a  nurce  phylloxera  lays 
30  eggs,  which  produce  perfect  insects, 
their  descendants  in  the  twelfth  gener- 
ation will  number  17,714,700,000,000,- 
000  individuals.  The  injury  caused  by 
a  single  puncture  such  as  they  make  in 
the  bark  of  the  roots,  or  even  several,  is 
very  slight,  but  when  multiplied  by 
such  immense  numbers,  is  ample  cause 
for  the   serious   damages  which   have 


been  inflicted  on  the  European  vine- 
yards. 

The  food  of  this  class  of  insects  is  the 
sap  of  plants,  which  they  usually  obtain 
from  the  leaves,  on  which  they  form 
galls.  Some  of  the  species  change  their 
host-plant  with  each  change  of  form, 
the  perfect  insect  feeding  on  a  different 
form  than  that  on  which  its  nurse-mother 
fed;  and  this  fact  is  said  by  Lichtenstein 
to  have  been  observed  with  regard  to  the 
phylloxera,  but  it  can  not  be  considered 
as  fully  established. 

The  vine-louse  differs  from  the  rest  of 
its  kind  in  living  under  the  ground, 
though  in  America  it  is  said  to  form 
galls  on  the  leaves.  They  have  only 
been  observed  in  Europe  by  Planchon, 
Signoret,  and  Lalman,  and  the  insects 
were  not  entirely  identical  with  those  on 
the  roots. 

The  full-grown  insect  sits  motionless 
on  the  roots,  having  inserted  its  suck- 
ing-tubes, of  which,  according  to  Ros- 
ier, it  uses  two  to  withdraw  the  sap,  and 
the  other  two  to  pour  into  the  wound  a 
liquid  excrement,  which,  perhaps,  is 
more  injurious  than  the  wound  itself. 
The  resulting  semi-transparent  swell- 
ings are  the  most  certain  indication  of 
the  joresence  of  the  phylloxera,  and  they 
speedily  decay.  The  insect  first  attacks 
the  surface-roots,  and,  when  these  are 
exhausted,  migrates  to  those  which  are 
larger  and  deeper  seated.  They  prefer 
the  angles  formed  by  branching  roots, 
and  lay  their  eggs  in  curved  lines  by 
swinging  round  their  abdomens.  Plan- 
chon saw  one  lay  30,  Rosier  42,  and 
Signoret  200,  which  hatched  in  from 
two  to  three  days.  Unlike  the  parent, 
the  young  phylloxera  is  very  active,  and 
runs  about  till  it  finds  a  suitable  spot  on 
which  to  begin  sap-sucking.  It  now 
rapidly  changes  its  skin;  how  many  times 
is  uncertain.  But  the  oak  phylloxera, 
its  nearest  relation,  changes  four  times. 


270 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOBTICULTUBIST. 


They  begin  to  lay  eggs  when  from 
eight  to  fifteen  days  old,  different  ob- 
servers not  agreeing  as  to  the  exact 
time.  The  yellow  color  of  the  insect 
changes  when  dead  to  a  light  brown,  as 
also  the  eggs,  and  when  destroyed  by 
carbon  disulphide  it  becomes  a  dark 
gray,  almost  black.  By  the  loss  of  sap, 
perhaps  also  by  the  effect  of  a  poison- 
ous excretion  introduced  into  the  wound 
made  by  the  trunk  of  the  phylloxera, 
the  vine  is  injured.  If  but  few  are  pres- 
ent, or  if  it  is  endowed  with  strong  pow- 
ers of  resistance,  like  the  American 
vines,  the  presence  of  the  enemy  will 
hardly  be  noticed.  But  if  they  increase, 
as  usual,  by  the  second  year  the  vine 
will  show  that  it  is  diseased.  The  leaves 
turn  yellow,  the  stock  becomes  spin- 
dling, the  shoots  wither,  the  berries 
shrivel,  and,  finally,  the  whole  plant 
dies.  Oftentimes  the  insects  will  be 
found  to  have  abandoned  the  exhausted 
roots  of  the  dead  vine  for  the  more  juicy 
ones  of :  surrounding  vines,  which  have 
not  yet  shown  decided  symptoms  of  at- 
tack. "When  one  locality  is  exhausted, 
the  insect  removes  to  another,  partly  by 
the  cracks  in  the  ground,*  and  partly 
by  running  over  the  surface,  and  also 
in  the  winged  form.  According  to  ob- 
servations made  at  Klosterneuburg,  it 
seems  possible  that  this  change  may  be 
brought  about  by  want  of  sufficient 
food.  "When  winged,  the  wind  is  an 
efficient  agent  for  their  distribution.  Of 
course,  the  wingless  form  may  be  trans- 
ported in  cuttings,  stakes,  straw,  &c, 
and  even  in  the  clothes  of  vine-dressers. 
Most  energetic  measures  have  been  taken 
to  prevent  the  spread  of  the  insect  from 
Klo stern euberg  and  vicinity.  All  the 
vines  have  been  dug  up,  and,  with  the 
roots,  carefully  burned,  and  the  ground 
fully  impregnated  with   carbon  disul- 

! * 

*  The  absence  of  such  cracks  in  sandy  ground  is  prob- 
ably the  reason  why  the  insect  is  not  found  therein. 


phide  by  means  of  holes  bored  three 
feet  deep  and  six  feet  apart,  in  which 
fifty-five  to  one  hundred  grams  of  the 
disinfectant  was  placed.  It  was  found, 
on  examination,  that  roots  lying  six  feet 
deep  in  loamy  soil  were  infested  with 
the  insect.  The  penetrating  character 
of  the  carbon  disulphide  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  vines  six  feet  deep  from  the 
holes  in  which  it  was  applied  died  im- 
mediately. April  is  the  best  time  for 
operations,  as  the  insect  is  then  soft  and 
tender;  but  from  August  to  October  the 
winged  form  must  be  guarded  against. 
Experience  shows  that,  once  cleared  of 
the  pest,  ground  may  be  again  planted 
with  vines,  which  grow  luxuriantly  with- 
out danger  until  it  is  re-introduced  from 
a  foreign  source. 

Since  the  destruction  of  the  vines  en- 
tails great  loss,  efforts  have  been  made 
to  discover  some  other  method  of  get- 
ting rid  of  the  insect. 

Of  all  the  substances  hitherto  em- 
ployed which  do  not  injure  the  vines, 
phosphureted  hydrogen  and  ammonia, 
liberated  in  the  soil,  have  been  most 
successful.  To  use  the  first,  a  hole  is 
bored  in  the  ground  and  filled  with  lime, 
on  which  water  impregnated  with  phos- 
phorus is  thrown,  and  immediately  cov- 
ered with  earth,-  all  openings  near  being 
also  closed  in  the  same  way  as  soon  as 
steam  is  seen  to  issue  from  them.  Among 
other  experiments,  the  effect  of  dynam- 
ite in  loosening  a  refractory  subsoil  was 
tried,  and  proved,  unexpectedly,  suc- 
cessful. Dynamite  cartridges  exploded 
in  holes  four  to  six  feet  deep,  loosened 
the  soil  so  that  it  would  absorb  twenty 
large  pails  of  water  where  previously 
one  would  stand  a  long  time.  Nu- 
merous substances  have  acquired  some 
reputation  in  France,  of  which  sulpho- 
carbonate  of  potassium  dissolved  in 
water  is,  according  to  Dumas,  the  most 
successful.     Of  the  dry  salt,  forty  to 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


271 


fifty  grams  are  required  for  a  large  vine, 
the  solution  to  be  poured  around  the 
stalk. 

Of  all  the  weapons  yet  used,  water  is 
the  only  one  completely  to  be  relied  on. 
It  is  not  likely  the  phylloxera  will  be- 
come entirely  extinct,  but  it  is  probable 
we  shall  find  means  to  render  it  com- 
paratively harmless,  and  by  high  culti- 
vation give  our  vines  sufficient  vigor  to 
withstand  its  attacks.  In  sandy  soil, 
with  heavy  manuring,  the  phylloxera  is 
even  now  not  to  be  dreaded. 

With  regard  to  fruit-trees,  decisive 
experiments  have  been  made  at  Kloster- 
neuberg  that  prove  they  are  not  subject 
to  its  attacks. 

Conformable  to  analogy  with  similar 
phenomena,  we  may  hope  that  possibly 
the  scourge  may  vanish  some  time  as  sud- 
denly as  it  has  arrived.  As  human  in- 
telligence has  triumphed  over  the  oidi- 
um,  the  potato-disease,  the  silk-worm 
disease,  etc.,  it  is  probable  that  science 
will  one  day  conquer  the  phylloxera. 


ANGLING,  AND  ITS  PLEASANT  AND 
PROFITABLE  ASSOCIATIONS  WITH 
NATURE  AND  SOCIAL    GOOD. 

BY  E.  J.  HOOPEB. 

Besides  the  exciting  amusement  and 
recreation  in  fishing,  and  the  opportu- 
nity it  affords  of  observing  and  examin- 
ing the  operations  and  beauties  of  nat- 
ure, there  exists  among  the  fraternity 
of  anglers  a  kindness  of  feeling  toward 
each  other  which  usually  accompanies 
a  kindred  taste  in  all  pursuits,  yet  more 
particularly  observable  in  that  of  the 
contemplative  angler.  But  even  a  ho- 
lier feeling  often  takes  possession  of  his 
thoughts;  and  how  can  it  be  otherwise? 
Once  having  felt  he  never  can  renounce 
'  'the  boundless  joys  that  nature  to  its  vo- 
tary yields."     He  is  cheered  by  the  ra- 


diance of  the  rising  sun;  he  breathes 
the  balmy  air  of  morning,  and  is  sooth- 
ed by  the  humming  stillness  which  pre- 
vails at  noon;  the  feathered  songsters 
greet  his  ear,  mixed  with  the  brawling 
brook  "that  down  the  distant  rock 
hoarse  murmuring  falls."  He  contem- 
plates with  wonder  all  the  scenes  of  the 
insect  tribes;  he  hears,  he  sees,  he  feels, 
that  nothing  is  made  in  vain.  In  short, 
he  "looks  from  nature  up  to  nature's 
God." 

This  is  the  romance  of  fishing;  but 
we  will  now  endeavor  to  illustrate  this, 
and  afterward  its  reality,  as  experien- 
ced by  us  in  brook-trouting  two  years 
since  at  Napa  Soda  Springs,  Napa 
County,  in  this  State.  One  fine  morn- 
ing we  found  ourselves  by  the  brook- 
side,  more  intent  at  first  to  enjoy  this 
same  romance  with  its  associations  in 
the  recreation  of  angling,  than  with  any 
ambition  to  fill  our  creel  with  the  love- 
ly denizens  of  the  baby  stream  that  was 
cradled  among  the  mountains,  and 
whose  play-grounds  were  some  sloping 
flower-enameled  meadows  and  lovely 
embowering  shrubbery  before  our  en- 
raptured vision.  Instead,  then,  of  im- 
mediately (as  was  our  wont)  casting  our 
line  and  fly,  eager  to  capture  in  a  mat- 
ter-of-fact way  those  speckled  beauties 
of  the  pellucid  element,  we  were  notic- 
ing how  it  was  dancing,  partly  over 
rocks  and  partly  through  the  green- 
sward. We  were  hearkening  how  it 
sung;  we  were  listening  also  to  other 
choristers.  The  pleasant  treble  of  the 
meadow-lark,  the  sharp  notes  of  gos- 
siping blackbirds,  the  sonorous  twang 
of  the  bullfrog,  and  the  semitones  of 
clouds  of  scarlet  or  green  or  blue  drag- 
on-flies, mingled  with  the  refrain  of  the 
rivulet  at  our  feet,  and  the  olla  podrida 
of  the  whole,  in  which  blended  many 
other  interesting  attractions  of  the 
scene,  were  cheerful  and  exhilarating, 


272 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


if  not  harmonious,  and  sufficient  to 
hold  us,  refraining  from  the  more  prosy 
slaughter  of  the  innocent  inhabitants  of 
the  babbling  waters  so  temptingly  con- 
venient to  our  hook.  Even  those  shape- 
ly creatures,  clouded  with  purple  and 
orange  and  centre-lined  with  crimson, 
lying  perdu  under  the  ripples  of  this 
running  water,  waiting  for  what  Provi- 
dence might  send  them  in  the  way  of 
provender,  could  not  then  induce  us  to 
deceive  them  with  our  artificial  bait. 
We  could  not,  at  the  moment,  propose 
to  be  their  evil  genius,  and  use  the  im- 
plements with  us  to  betray  them  to 
their  ruin.  No — those  self -same  deni- 
zens of  this  silvery  stream  should  not  in 
these  romantic  moments  of  scenic  en- 
joyments of  earth,  sky,  and  waters,  be 
manipulated  to  their  destruction,  while 
sporting  so  beautifully  and  enjoyingly 
in  the  cool  and  crystal  waters — their  na- 
tive element;  nor  should  the  anticipa- 
tion of  their  preparation  for  the  cuisine 
at  home  tickle  our  imaginative  palate 
while  some  of  them  were  reposing  so 
stilly,  but  yet  so  watchfully,  in  the 
midst  of  umbrageous  foliage  or  rocky 
cover.  We  stood  there  undecided,  or 
at  least  pausing  what  to  do.  Nature 
seemed  in  one  of  her  best  moods;  the 
early  sun-god  was  bestowing,  a  warm 
flush  on  her  cheeks,  and  we  were  hav- 
ing a  very  pleasant  time  together. 
Heaven's  health  commissioners — gentle 
breezes,  vitalized  with  the  fresh  breath- 
ings of  tender  grass  and  shrubs  and 
flowers,  unfolding  blossoms — are  veiy 
potent  to  preserve  body  and  soul  in 
their  full  vigor,  and  were  fanning  our 
face  deliciously.  We  seemed  to  be 
standing  in  the  highways  and  by-ways 
of  nature's  green  and  gorgeous  sanita- 
rium; so  pure  and  gentle  and  invigorat- 
ing is  the  air  in  these  mountains  and 
valleys  of  California. 

But,   presto,    change!    an   alteration 


is  "passing  o'er  the  spirit  of  our 
dreams."  Our  fishing  instinct,  which 
seems  to  belong  to  our  very  birth, 
came  over  us;  our  romantic  feelings 
fled  from  us  like  the  morning  mists.  It 
takes  not  the  accustomed  fingers  of  the 
angler  long  to  prepare  his  tackle.  At 
the  end  of  the  transparent  leader  dan- 
gles a  "brown  hackle" — a  killing  fly 
when  the  sun  is  shining  softly  through 
the  commencing  golden  mists  of  a  sum- 
mer's morning  like  that;  and  now  for  a 
cast.  Seest  thou,  reader,  that  bit  of 
ruffled  water,  this  side  of  the  gnarled, 
hump-backed  old  witch  of  a  Willow 
that  is  stooping  to  catch  a  glimpse  of 
her  ungainly  shape  in  the  stream,  tpiite 
different  from  the  young  and  beautiful 
Narcissus  of  old  ?  Right  for  the  centre 
of  that  eddy  shall  our  feather-fly  make 
wing.  Deftly  done,  by  all  that  is  en- 
tomological! Had  the  line  been  alive 
it  could  not  have  dropped  into  the  rip- 
ple more  naturally.  Aha!  credulity  in 
a  brilliantly  broidered  vestment  (or 
scales)  snaps  as  quick  as  lightning  at 
the  irresistible  temptation.  A  noble 
trout-prince  of  the  brook,  and  hooked 
past  all  redemption!  Whir-r-r-r!  how 
he  makes  the  reel  spin.  See  him  leap 
from  the  surface,  mad  for  freedom. 
Alas!  little  acrobat,  thy  last  flip-flap  is 
at  hand.  Thou'rt  e'en  a-drowning;  for 
fish  may  have  too  much  air  or  water  in 
their  gills.  It  is  mere  folly  to  fight 
with  destiny;  beguiled,  come  ashore, 
and  die  peaceably  on  the  greensward. 
We'll  land  him  gently,  "  as  if  we  loved 
him,"  as  old  Izaak  says  of  the  worm. 

In  spite  of  our  late  romantic  mood 
we  continue  to  beguile  the  fishes.  One 
after  another,  from  pool  and  rapid  and 
from  the  foam  of  a  little  Minnehaha, 
(ha-ha!)  we  "gather  them  in."  The 
sun,  beginning  to  slope  on  his  down- 
ward course,  is  frescoing  with  prismatic 
hues  the  western  wall  of  heaven,  and 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


273 


the  wicker  basket  at  our  belt  is  full  of 
fish  as  rarely  tinted;  and  in  spite  of  our 
romance,  when  we  reach  home  we  hesi- 
tate not  to  consign  them  all  to  the  ten- 
der and  culinary  mercies  of  our  good 
cook,  Mrs.  Gross. 


INDIA-BUBBER  FKOM  MILKWEED. 


I  have  heard  people  advocate  that 
there  was  nothing  which  grew  that 
could  not  be  put  to  some  practical  use 
— that  every  herb  and  weed  ' '  had  mon- 
ey in  it,"  if  we  only  knew  what  applica- 
tion to  make  of  it,  so  as  to  extract  the 
money.  They  quote  the  flowers,  for 
example,  which  we  are  in  the  habit  of 
considering  merely  ornamental,  but  the 
culture  of  which,  for  the  manufacture 
of  perfumes,  has  become  an  extensive 
industry  of  large  commercial  impor- 
tance. 

Lately,  some  enterprising  person  with 
a  habit  of  observation  has  paid  atten- 
tion to  the  common  Milkweed  of  our 
road-sides,  meadows,  and  pastures.  "We 
all  know  that  when  this  weed  is  broken 
or  pierced  a  milk  exudes  from  it — and 
it  is  from  this  that  the  plant  has  deriv- 
ed its  name.  A  scrutiny  of  the  pecul- 
iarities of  this  milk  or  sap  led  to  the  be- 
lief that  it  possessed  the  same  proper- 
ties which  characterize  caoutchouc  or 
India-rubber,  whereupon  the  experi- 
ment was  made  of  collecting  a  quantity 
and  preparing  it  in  the  same  manner 
that  the  sap  of  the  Indian  or  South 
American  trees  is  prepared,  and  the  re- 
sult, so  the  deponent  saith,  was  bona 
fide  India-rubber.  There  was  no  word 
as  to  the  quality  of  the  article  procur- 
ed; the  result  merely  was  given,  and  the 
one  fact  that  the  quantity  afforded  by 
the  weed  was  small. 

Insignificant  as  this  experiment  ap- 
pears, it  may  yet  prove  of  considerable 


consequence.  Every  year  the  uses  to 
which  India-rubber  is  put  are  increased, 
and  consequently  the  amount  imported 
is  increased.  If  here  within  our  own 
borders  we  can  help  supply  a  portion, 
however  small,  of 'this  demand,  we  open 
a  new  industry,  and  make  of  conse- 
quence that  which  before  only  cumber- 
ed the  land.  Hundreds  of  children 
could  be  employed  in  collecting  the 
juices  of  the  weed,  which  is  of  sponta- 
neous and  rapid  growth,  if  it  could  be 
shown  that  it  would  pay. 

During  the  war,  when  cotton  was  in 
request,  the  long  silky  down  of  this 
plant,  to  which  the  seed  is  attached, 
was  the  subject  of  considerable  specula- 
tion as  to  the  possibility  of  its  being 
utilized  by  mixing  with  other  products, 
and  so  being  woven  with  cloth,  but  as 
it  was  not  done,  at  least  to  our  knowl- 
edge, the  supposition  is  that  it  was  not 
thought  feasible. 


WOMEN  AS  FLORICULTUKISTS. 


There  is  a  constant  cry  among  the 
clamorous  for  women's  rights  that  so 
few  employments  are  open  to  the  sex. 
The  truth  is  every  year  women,  by 
scores,  are  admitted  to  departments 
hitherto  considered  only  properly  filled 
by  men.  Every  year  they  jostle  men 
closer  and  closer  in  all  the  business  re- 
lations of  life.  When  we  consider  that 
in  the  event  of  a  man's  place  falling  va- 
cant there  are  a  dozen  of  his  fellow- 
men  eager  and  anxious  to  fill  it,  the 
wonder  is  that  women  are  ever  prefer- 
red at  all — education  and  custom  being 
on  the  side  of  the  stronger  sex,  and  ex- 
perience proving  that  -men's  work  is 
best  done  by  men,  as  women's  is  by 
women. 

In  the  matter  of  Floriculture  one 
would  think  that  women  would  occupy 


274 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


tlie  field  to  the  exclusion  of  men;  but, 
strange  to  say,  they  show,  if  not  a  de- 
cided aversion,  a  singular  backwardness 
in  entering  upon  a  business  purely 
feminine,  which  they  could  make  pecul- 
iarly their  own.  - 

Several  years  since  I  went  with  oth- 
ers, by  invitation,  on  New  Year's  Eve, 
to  visit  a  large  floral  establishment  in 
New  York,  to  view  the  designs  in  pre- 
paration for  the  next  day.  Orders  had 
also  been  received  for  a  ball  and  sever- 
al parties,  and  every  hand  was  busy. 
Walking  around  with  the  proprietor  I 
observed  the  absence  of  women — not 
one  being  there — and  asked  why  they 
were  not  employed.  The  answer  both 
annoyed  and  provoked  me. 

' '  They  can  not  do  it  so  well  as  men 
— are  not  so  handy  with  the  flowers." 

I  was  incredulous,  and  said  so. 

"It  is  our  experience,"  was  the  re- 
ply. "Men  have  more  patience,  and 
are  not  so  impulsive." 

To  my  query  if  he  did  not  think  tend- 
ing flowers  was  more  suited  to  women 
than  men,  he  said  no — if  it  was,  women 
would  be  doing  it.  Women  liked  to 
trifle  writh  flowers,  to  amuse  themselves 
with  them,  but  as  to  carrying  on  their 
cultivation  as  a  business,  few  women 
were  capable  of  it.  They  would  rather 
labor  at  a  desk,  stand  in  a  store,  do  the 
hardest  kind  of  men's  work,  than  en- 
gage in  any  of  these  feminine  or  half- 
feminine  employments,  and  the  proof 
was  found  in  the  fact  that  they  did  not. 
They  would  study  for  years  to  become 
lawyers,  or  doctors,  or  preachers,  be- 
cause these  were  manly  professions,  but 
.  where  was  there  a  woman  studying  to 
become  a  skillful  floriculturist  or  horti- 
culturist ?    He  did  not  know  one. 

As  I  looked  around  this  great  estab- 
lishment, and  saw  more  than  a  score  of 
men  busy,  some  unpacking  the  blos- 
soms, which,   carefully  incased  in  cot- 


ton, had  come  from  distant  cities,  oth- 
ers forming  monograms  of  flowers  of 
particular  colors,  or  working  out  the 
elegant  and  elaborate  designs  which 
were  to  grace  the  next  day's  fetes,  each 
intent  upon  what  he  was  doing,  I  wish- 
ed the  men  had  been  women,  and  want- 
ed much  to  controvert  what  he  had 
said;  but  "  knowledge  is  power,"  and 
having  no  knowledge  to  the  contrary  I 
could  not. 


HINTS  FOE  FLOWER  GARDENERS. 

BY  AN   AMATEUR. 

American  landscape  gardeners,  who 
are  liberal  and  open  to  all  improve- 
ments, have  for  some  length  of  time 
copied  the  English  in  ornamenting  turf- 
lawns,  and  large  flower  gardens  where 
there  are  grass-plats,  with  plats  or  beds 
of  various  kinds  of  flowers;  but  the  En- 
glish and  Dutch  gardeners  in  all  their 
large  and  regular  gardens  have  of  late 
years  been  in  the  habit  of  disposing  of 
each  kind  of  flowers  by  themselves. 
The  Americans  have  lately  in  some  in- 
stances also  copied  this  mode  of  show- 
ing forth  the  beauty  and  rich  aggregate 
Colors  of  their  flowers.  "  We  ridicule 
this  plan,  "  says  Hogg,  in  his  "Treatise 
on  Flowers,"  because  it  exhibits  too 
great  a  sameness  and  formality;  like  a 
bouquet  that  is  composed  of  one  sort  of 
flowers  only,  however  sweet  and  beau- 
tiful they  may  be,  they  lose  the  power 
to  please,  because  they  want  variety. 
It  must  undoubtedly  be  acknowledged 
that  a  parterre,  no  matter  in  what  form 
— whether  circular  or  square,  elliptical 
or  oblong — where  all  the  shrubs,  plants, 
and  flowers  in  it,  like  the  flowers  in  a 
tastefully  arranged  nosegay,  are  various- 
ly disposed  in  neat  and  regular  order 
and  still  with  some  degree  of  freedom, 
is  a  delightful  spectacle  and  worthy  of 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


275 


general  admiration.  Yet  still,  in  some 
particular  cases  I  am  disposed  to  copy 
the  Hollanders,  and  I  would  have  my 
Hyacinths,  my  Anemones,  my  Ranun- 
culuses, my  Pinks,  my  Carnations  dis- 
tinct, and  even  my  beds  of  Hollyhocks, 
double-blue  Violets,  and  dwarf  Lark- 
spurs distinct,  to  say  nothing  of  differ- 
ent sorts  of  Roses.  Independently  of 
the  less  trouble  you  have  of  cultivating 
them  when  kept  separate,  you  have 
beauty  in  masses,  and  you  have  like- 
wise their  fragrance  and  perfume  so 
concentrated,  that  they  are  not  lost  in  the 
air,  but  powerfully  inhaled  when  you  ap- 
proach them." 

In  the  generally  clear  air  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, on  small  or  front  plats  even  if 
they  be  limited   only   to  a   few  square 
yards,   flowers    can  mostly  be  grown 
with  advantage  with  any  ordinary  care 
and  attention.     We  can  here  command 
the   requisite  amount  of  air   and  sun- 
shine, so  different  from  the  smoke  and 
limestone   dust  of  the   Eastern  cities, 
where  it  is  often  a  wretched  sight  to  see 
a  few   sickly  plants   struggling  for  a 
miserable   existence.       In   such    cases 
clean  gravel,  or  some  greensward  if  it 
will  grow,  would  be  better  than  to  at- 
tempt the  growth  of  flowers  at  all,  with 
perhaps  a  selection  of  the  finer  varie- 
ties of  Ivy,  Jasmines,  and  Coloniasters 
on  the  side-walls  or  railings;  and  else- 
where  a  variegated    Holly,   Box-tree, 
Laurel,  Acuba,  Sweet-brier,  Rose,  or 
some   other    hardy   shrub,   to   enliven 
them.     In  laying  out  little  front  plats 
of  this  description,  circular,  oval,  ob- 
long, and  other  simple  forms  should  be 
preferred,   for  nothing  looks  more  ri- 
diculous   than  the  imitation   of  laby- 
rinths and  intricate  designs  on  so  small 
a  scale.     A  fewplain  forms  in  keeping 
with  the  front  of  the  building  and  size 
of  the  plat,  may  produce  elegance;  but 
intricate  divisions,  with  gravel  lines  be- 


tween scarcely  broad  enough  for  a  hu- 
man foot,  are  toyish  and  trifling  in  the 
extreme. 

An  error  not  uncommon  in  deciding 
what  flowers  shall  be  planted,  is  to  se- 
lect numbers  merely  for  their  variety 
and  novelty,  without  reference  to  what 
will  be  their  appearance  when  in  bloom. 
Unless  for  botanical  illustrations,  make 
a  choice  of  flowers  on  three  principles 
— those  that  will  thrive  in  the  situa- 
tions assigned  to  them;  those  which 
will  be  beautiful  when  in  bloom  or  leaf, 
although  common;  and  those  which 
will  bloom  or  produce  effective  foliage 
at  the  particular  seasons  required,  to 
insure  a  succession  of  varied  beauty 
throughout  the  year. 

Flowering  plants  are  now  so  numer- 
ous, both  as  respects  species  and  varie- 
ties, that  a  bare  list  of  them  would 
more  than  fill  a  whole  number  of  our 
magazine.  A  person  with  little  expe- 
rience should  stock  his  garden  only  by 
degrees — adding  a  small  number  of  dif- 
ferent sorts  every  year,  according  to 
fancy,  and  what  he  finds  to  be  the  ca- 
pabilities of  the  soil  and  exposure.  In 
commencing  to  make  a  choice  for  a 
moderate  -  sized  garden,  or  for  still 
smaller  plats  of  ground  and  borders, 
we  should  also  recommend  the  plan  of 
cultivating  a  mixed  variety  of  different 
colors  and  different  heights  —  those 
which  are  smallest  being  in  front,  and 
nearest  the  eye,  and  the  other  rows 
rising  in  height  and  massiveness  as  they 
recede.  With  as  few  as  four  colors,  four 
sizes,  and  six  different  periods  of  com- 
ing into  bloom,  a  mingled  border  may 
be  established  with  fifty  sorts  which  will 
present  a  pleasing  assemblage  to  the 
eye. 

Among  the  vast  number  of  Annuals 
that  offer  themselves  to  the  choice  of 
the  amateur  gardener,  are  the  African 
Marigold  and  French  Marigold,  China 


276 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Aster,  Marvel  of  Peru,  Indian  Pink, 
Convolvulus,  Amaranthus,  Zinnia,  Ten- 
week  Stocks,  Adonis  Candytuft,  Lark- 
spur, Lupines,  Sunflower,  Lavender, 
Poppy,  Nasturtium,  Sweet  Pea,  Venus' 
Looking-glass,  Virginia  Stock,  Mignon- 
nette,  Purple  Jacoboea,  Clarkias,  Collin- 
sias,  Nemophilas,  Helichrysums,  and 
other  "  everlastings,"  several  kinds  of 
ornamental  grasses,  etc. 

Under  the  head  of  Biennials,  (though 
many  of  these  become  perennials  here) 
are  Canterbury  Bells,  Carnation  Pink, 
Hollyhock,  Sweet  William,  Wallflow- 
er, Lavatorea  Arborea,  Purple  Digital- 
is, and  Stock  Gillyflower.  Some  of 
these  are  very  beautiful,  and  none 
more  so  than  Carnations. 

Under  the  head  of  Perennials  may 
be  included  the  Hyacinth,  Narcissus, 
Iris,  Lily,  Tulip,  Gladiolus,  Ixia,  Snow- 
drop, Crocus,  Scillse,  and  others. 

Of  the  Perennial  Tubers  are  the  Dah- 
lia, Peony,  Ranunculus,  and  Anemones, 
double  and  single. 

Fibrous-rooted  Perennials  are:  Die- 
lytra,  Primrose,  Campanula,  Pansy, 
Pyrethrums,  Phlox,  and  Penstemon. 

Among  the  shrubs,  climbers,  ever- 
greens, etc.,  are:  Rose,  Honeysuckle, 
Jasmine,  Clematis,  Hawthorns,  Azale- 
as, Viburnums,  Weigelias,  and  Lilacs; 
red,  white  and  yellow  Flowering  Cur- 
rants; Rhododendrons,  Laurels,  Arbor- 
vitse,  Holly,  Juniper,  Mahonia,  Box, 
Laurustinus,  Ivy,  and  Arbutus. 

Then  there  are  for  both  greenhouse, 
window,  and  out-door  culture,  Camel- 
lias, Geraniums,  Fuchsias,  Orchids, 
and  Azaleas. 

Besides  these  we  may  enumerate  Ne- 
reum,  Gardenia,  Hydrangea,  Chinese 
Primrose,  Daphne,  Heliotrope,  Acacia, 
Mimosa,  Eucalyptus,  Passion-flower, 
Amaryllis,  and  Calceolaria. 

Succulents  are  well  suited  for  grow- 
ing in  rooms,  as  they  are  not  so  impa- 


tient of  either  air  or  water  as  most 
other  plants;  and  the  abundance  of 
their  beautiful  flowers  renders  them 
objects  of  interest. 

Cactus  speciosus,  Jenkinsonii,  flagel- 
liformis,  and  speciosissimus ;  Mesem- 
bryanthemums,  and  Flowering  Aloes, 
deserve  especial  notice. 


OUR  VEGETABLE  WANTS. 

After  all  that  has  been  said,  and  said 
truly,  about  the  great  abundance  of  veg- 
etables in  our  markets,  their  large  size 
and  fine  appearance,  their  long-contin- 
ued season,  etc.,  it  may  seem  ungrate- 
ful, unreasonable,  and,  worse  than  all, 
unappreciative  of  California's  products, 
to  intimate  that  anything  further  is 
wanted  in  this  line.  Nevertheless,  with 
the  fear  of  these  accusations  before  our 
eyes,  and  at  the  risk  of  being  branded 
as  a  traitor  in  the  horticultural  camp, 
we  declare  that  the  supply  in  our  vege- 
table market  is  not  up  to  the  wants  of 
the  community. 

In  the  universal  praise  of  California 
fruit,  the  claims  of  the  fruit-growers 
have  not  been  properly  estimated;  but 
in  connection  with  our  vegetables  it  is 
but  simple  justice  to  give  the  credit  ex- 
clusively to  the  soil.  Where  do  we  find 
indications  of  progressiveness  in  this 
direction?  And  are  we  not  really  "  go- 
ers backward  "  in  vegetable  culture  ?  If 
we  are  not  progressing  we  are  certainly 
receding;  for  in  every  department  of 
Agriculture — live  stock  included — vari- 
eties and  species  degenerate  if  constant 
attention  is  not  given  to  cultivating  and 
breeding  up  to  new  points  of  excellence. 
This  is  particularly  observable  in  vege- 
tables. Where  gardening  is  conducted 
on  a  proper  basis  new  varieties  are  con- 
tinually coming  into  favor,  and  what 
was  supposed  to  be  perfection  at  one 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


277 


period  falls  out  of  cultivation  within  a 
few  years. 

Such  deteriorations  we  apprehend  are 
now  going  on  among  our  vegetables 
generally.  Because  the  soil  and  cli- 
mate are  particularly  favorable  to  their 
growth  no  particular  effort  is  made  to- 
ward their  improvement;  and  if  people 
have  a  fair  variety  of  vegetables  of  large 
size,  fresh  from  the  ground  at  seasons 
when  a  large  portion  of  the  country  is 
forced  to  abstain  from  such  food,  it 
seems  to  be  supposed  that  we  ought  to 
be  satisfied.  But  this  is  not  enough. 
Our  vegetable  supply  is  too  suggestive 
of  fodder.  Take,  for  instance,  Peas; 
we  have  them  early  and  late,  and  in 
great  abundance — not  cheap  particular- 
ly, however — but  there  is  a  sad  lack  of 
variety.  People  who  fully  appreciate 
the  delicacy  of  Green  Peas  will  accept 
almost  anything  in  this  line  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  season,  taking  it  as  a  fore- 
runner of  something  better;  but  if  they 
are  compelled  to  go  through  the  season 
on  field  Peas,  they  will  consume  less, 
and  derive  less  enjoyment  from  what' 
they  eat,  than  they  would  if  they  had 
the  better  kinds  of  garden  Peas  coming 
in  their  course  throughout  the  season. 
The  later  Peas  are  the  best,  and  we  be- 
lieve the  same  rule  will  apply  to  other 
vegetables  and  to  fruits  also. 

Summer  Beans,  too,  are  not  what 
they  should  be  in  our  market.  As 
string  Beans  they  are  passable,  and 
nothing  more;  but  when  they  are  strung 
through  the  whole  summer  it  is  a  little 
too  much  of  a  good  thing.  Now,  peo- 
ple who  "  know  beans,"  know  that  the 
very  best  form  in  which  this  excellent 
vegetable  is  prepared  for  the  table,  is  as 
"shelled  Beans,"  as  they  are  termed, 
that  is,  they  hang  on  the  vine  until  the 
Beans  have  attained  their  full  growth, 
and  the  pod  turns  yellow.  At  this 
stage  of  maturity  they  will  "shell"  as 


readily  as  well -filled  green  Peas,  and 
are  much  richer  and  more  palatable 
than  the  string  Bean  at  its  best;  and 
the  most  skillful  of  Yankee  housewives 
can  not  bring  the  dry  ripe  Bean  to  a 
condition  that  will  compare  with  the 
shelled  Bean  as  a  summer  dish.  Any 
kind  of  Bean,  taken  at  this  stage  of  its 
growth  and  properly  cooked,  is  good; 
but  let  us  try  and  rid  our  system  of 
vegetable-eating  of  the  notion -that  be- 
cause the  ordinary  kinds  are  good  we 
should  make  no  effort  to  procure  the 
best. 

This  wholesome,  delicious  dish  is 
quite  excluded  from  the  California  bill 
of  fare;  yet  to  have  it  in  abundance, 
and  of  superior  quality,  is  a  very  sim- 
ple, inexpensive  matter.  Still,  it  must 
be  confessed  that  it  calls  for  more  at- 
tention than  is  usually  given  to  our  veg- 
etable supply.  To  have  shelled  Beans 
right  they  should  be  of  uniform  ripe- 
ness. They  should  be  picked  every 
day,  for  at  this  maturing  period  of  their 
growth  the  change  is  very  rapid,  and 
what  are  just  right  to-day  would  be  a 
trifle  too  ripe  to-morrow. 

There  are  two  other  vegetables,  the 
Parsnip,  and  Salsify  or  Vegetable  Oy- 
ster, that  are  not  what  they  should  be 
with  us;  but  in  these  instances  the  cli- 
mate is  mainly  in  fault,  for  neither  of 
them  is  really  fit  to  be  eaten  until  it  has 
undergone  the  process  of  freezing  and 
thawing  while  in  the  ground.  This  is 
necessary  to  develop  the  peculiar  flavors 
of  these  vegetables.  This  is  quite  prac- 
ticable where  the  ground  freezes  to  a 
depth  of  from  two  to  three  feet,  and  in 
such  localities  no  one  thinks  of  eating 
the  Parsnip  or  Vegetable  Oyster  until 
spring.  In  California  we  have  not  the 
requisite  frost — lucky  for  us  that  we 
have  not; — but  if  more  care  were  given 
to  importing  seed  and  to  cultivation, 
only  allowing  them  to  attain  a  moderate 


278 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


growth,  we  might  approximate,  though 
we  could  not  expect  to  fully  reach,  the 
fine  flaTor  and  rich  aroma  of  these  veg- 
etables. 

But  the  greatest  need  of  "  educating 
up "  in  the  vegetable  family  is  in  con- 
nection with  Potatoes.  We  do  not 
question  anyone's  veracity,  or  their  par- 
tiality even,  when  they  declare  they 
have  eaten  as  good  Potatoes  in  Califor- 
nia as  they  ever  saw;  but,  we  ask,  is 
the  standard  California  Potato,  such  as 
is  set  before  the  mass  of  people  at  the 
restaurants,  and  is  sent  by  the  grocer 
to  private  families,  is  this  what  it  ought 
to  be  ?  Or  will  it  compare  with  the  av- 
erage Potato  of  other  States  ?  We  are 
sorry  that  candor  compels  us  to  vote  in 
the  negative;  and  more  sorry  from  the 
conviction  that  there  is  no  good  reason 
why  our  Potato  should  not  be  of  sur- 
passing excellence. 

We  do  not  hope  to  see  the  Potato  of 
the  period  "  educated  up  "  to  the  requi- 
site  standard.  New  varieties  are  need- 
ed. The  best  Potato  that  we  can  hope 
to  grow  will  need  replacing  in  about  five 
years.  As  it  is  we  really  have  no  well 
defined  varieties.  It  is  a  wise  Potato 
that  knows  its  own  father  here- 
One  of  the  progressive  movements  re- 
cently made  by  the  University  College 
of  Agriculture  is  the  procuring  of  a 
large  number — twenty-four,  we  believe 
— varieties  of  Potatoes,  which  are  to  be 
thoroughly  tested  on  the  University 
grounds.  Mr.  Stearns,  under  whose 
direction  this  new  supply  was  procured, 
has  acted  very  judiciously  in  this,  and 
we  shall  expect  good  results  from  it. 
Similar  efforts  at  improvement  are  need- 
ed in  regard  to  other  vegetables. 

It  is  possible  that  in  making  known 
our  wants  in  this  quarter,  we  may  be- 
come amenable  to  the  charge  of  depre- 
ciating California  Horticulture;  and  the 
excessively   anxious   may  fear  that  by 


speaking  disparagingly  of  the  flavor  of 
California  Parsnips  we  "will  turn  the  tide 
of  immigration,  and  depreciate  the  val- 
ue of  real  estate,  but  we  deny  the  charge 
of  weakness  of  faith  in  the  country,  and 
do  not  apprehend  any  injury  to  it  from 
anything  that  has  been  said  in  this  con- 
nection.— Pacific  Press. 


SEED  SOWING. 


The  evil  of  too  deep  sowing  of  seeds 
is  not  confined  to  the  open  garden  with 
respect  to  vegetable  seeds,  though  dif- 
ferent seeds,  of  course,  require  different 
depths.  One  cause  why  seedsmen  are 
much  blamed  for  selling  what  are  sup- 
posed by  some  of  their  customers  to  be 
bad  or  too  old  seeds,  when  seeds  will 
not  grow,  is  owing  to  overdeep  cover- 
ing, or  placing  them  in  soil  so  water- 
logged, that,  though  they  swell,  the  air 
can  not  get  at  them,  and  decomposition 
is  the  result.  Another  cause  why  seeds 
saved  by  amateurs  sometimes  refuse  to 
vegetate,  is,  that  after  cleaning  they 
often  are  left  in  a  place  thinly  spread 
out,  and  exposed  to  an  excess  of  sun. 
The  carbon,  or  starchy  matter,  becomes 
so  fixed,  or  indurated,  that  it  will  not 
change  into  a  sweet  sugary  substance 
for  the  nourishment  of  the  embryo.  We 
have  known  fine  kinds  of  Cucumber 
seeds  much  injured  by  such  exposiu-e 
to  the  sun  for  months  or  weeks  on  the 
open  shelves  of  a  hothouse.  A  few  days 
would  have  done  them  no  harm.  As  a 
general  rule,  small  seeds  in  pots  should 
seldom  be  more  covered  than  the  thick- 
ness of  their  own  size.  A  little  shad- 
ing, before  the  seedlings  appear,  is  far 
better  than  a  thicker  covering.  In  the 
case  of  all  seeds,  and  especially  those  a 
little  old,  it  is  always  safest  to  place 
them  in  a  soil  a  little  moist,  to  allow  the 
seeds  to  absorb  moisture  from  it  gradu- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


279 


ally,  instead  of  freely  watering  the  soil. 
In  general  cases,  and  especially  in  the 
case  of  small  seeds,  the  necessary  moist- 
ure  should   be   given  by  watering  the 
pots  well  before  sowing,  after  draining 
them  well,  and   tilling  them  with  the 
light,    sandy,    proper    soil,   and    then 
waiting  a  day  or  two  for  the  soil  in  the 
pot  to  become  a  little  dry  on  the  surface 
before   sowing.     "When   covered   after- 
ward, according  to  the  size  of  the  seed, 
and  the  mouth  of  the  pot  covered  with 
a  square  glass,  and  then  shaded  from 
sunshine   before  the  young   seedlings 
appear,  hardly  a  good  seed  will  fail  to 
grow.      Even   then,    careless   watering 
overhead  will  ruin  thousands  of  tender 
things.     It   is    safer    to    communicate 
moisture  from  below,  or  flood  the  sur- 
face by  pouring  the  water  on  a  piece  of 
crock  held  close  to  the  side  of  the  pot. 
The  whole  of  the  tender  things  may  thus 
be    moistened   without    water   coming 
directly,  as  from  a  rose  of  a  watering- 
pot,  on  their  tops.     The  previous  moist- 
ening of  the  pots  before  sowing,  in  most 
cases  of  nicety,  will  supply  the  requisite 
moisture  until  the  young  seedlings  are 
past  danger.     Care  should  also  be  taken 
in  sowing  tender   things   in  pots,  that 
the  soil  should  be  from  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  to  half  an  inch  distant  from  the 
rim.     "When  pots  are  filled  more  full 
than  that,  a  careless  rose-watering  will 
often  send  the  seed  out  of  the  pot.     If 
these  little  matters  are  attended  to,  we 
feel  confident  that  less  blame  will  be 
thrown  on  the  backs  of  seedsmen. 


short  space  of  time  and  with  hardly 
more  bending  of  the  body  than  a  house- 
maid displays  while  sweeping  a  carpet. 
This  tool  might  be  adopted  by  our 
farmers  with  benefit. 


There  is  a  French  tool  called  a  thistle 
puller.  It  is  made  of  wood,  and  looks 
very  much  like  a  pair  of  blacksmith's 
tongs.  The  handles  are  something 
more  than  four  feet  long.  Five  or  six 
old  women,  armed  with  this  instrument, 
can  clean  a  foul  place  in  an  incredibly 


GRADUAL  DESTRUCTION  OF  FOREST- 
TREES. 

Few  persons  have  ever  given  a  thought 
to  the  subject  of  the  destruction  of  for- 
est-trees, which  has  been  going  on  for 
the  last  fifty  years,  with  accelerated 
speed,  all  over  the  United  States.  The 
effect  in  some  extensive  districts  has 
been  greatly  to  modify  the  climate  and 
to  render  it  less  mild  and  suited,  to  ag- 
riculture. Forests  are  one  of  the  chief 
instrumentalities  of  nature  for  control- 
ling extremes  of  temperature,  moderat- 
ing the  violence  of  winds,  and  prevent- 
ing excessive  evaporation  of  moisture 
from  the  soil.  Where  they  are  de- 
stroyed on  a  grand  scale,  a  deterioration 
of  climate  is  inevitable. 

But  the  rapid  and  often  needless  de- 
struction of  our  forests  will  not  long 
hence  cause  an  absolute  lack  both  of 
fuel  and  timber.  Many  kinds  of  trees 
have  almost  disappeared  which  formerly 
abounded.  The  White  Pine,  the  Hem- 
lock, the  Black  WTalnut,  and  Wild 
Cherry,  which  formerly  abounded  in 
the  Northern  and  Middle  States,  are 
now  grown  scarce  and  clear.  Black 
Walnut,  which  was  sold  in  Ohio  thirty 
years  ago  for  fire-wood,  and  sawed  into 
boards  for  five  or  six  dollars  per  thou- 
sand feet,  now  brings  the  price  of  Ma- 
hogany. It  was  calculated  by  experts 
in  the  matter  that  in  1860  the  consump- 
tion of  wood  for  fuel  by  the  railroads 
was  about  6,500,000  cords  per  year, 
reckoning  the  running  time  of  the  trains 
at  300  days  annually,  and  the  cost  at 
$50,000,000,  besides  all  the  wood  used 


280 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


for  fuel  in  dwellings  and  manufactories. 
To  furnish  the  railroads  alone  required 
the  denudation  of  3,000,000  acres  of 
forest  land  annually.  Railroads  from 
1850  to  1860  had  consumed  an  im- 
mense amount  of  timber  for  other  pur- 
poses, such  as  bridges,  fences,  stations 
and  culverts,  and  no  less  than  65,997,- 
000  ties  were  required,  at  a  cost  of  over 
$23,000,000.  Taking  these  estimates  as 
starting-points,  how  vast  must  be  the 
annual  drain  upon  our  forests  at  the 
present  time.  The  number  of  miles  of 
railroad  and  the  building  of  ships, 
houses  and  fences,  as  well  as  the  de- 
mand for  fuel,  has  doubtless  been  dou- 
bled within  fifteen  years,  and  all  the 
ties  of  every  road  must  be  renewed  in 
five  or  seven  years.  -California,  in  many 
districts  never  well  wooded,  already  be- 
gins to  feel  the  effect  of  the  constant 
demand  for  fuel  and  other  purposes. 
Localities  near  the  bay  of  San  Francis- 
co, since  the  construction  of  railroads, 
have  almost  been  stripped  of  their  tim- 
ber already.  The  immense  forests  of 
Redwood  up  the  coast  are  steadily  un- 
dergoing the  same  process.  The  sup- 
ply may  remain  tolerably  good  for  many 
years  to  come,  as  the  trees  reproduce 
themselves  from  the  roots,  but  timber  is 
becoming  harder  to  get  every  year,  and 
being  exhausted,  except  in  almost  inac- 
cessible places,  must  grow  dearer  and 
dearer.  Fuel  is  already  so  scarce  for 
fifty  or  sixty  miles  around  this  city  that 
coal  is  taking  the  place  of  wood. — Gall. 


All  experience  confirms  the  selection 
of  high  hilly  ground  for  fruit-growing. 
The  temperature  in  winter  is  always 
warmer  on  the  top  of  the  hill  than  in 
the  valley,  and  in  summer  the  air  on 
the  hill  is  drier  and  less  liable  to  create 
insect  diseases.  In  clay  lands,  set  the 
trees  on  top  of  the  ground  and  plow  up 
to  them,  leaving  drainage  in  the  centre. 


BANANAS. 

The  most  perfect  Banana  plantation 
in  the  United  States  is  that  of  Colonel 
Whitney,  near  Silver  Lake,  over  two 
hundred  miles  south  of  Jacksonville, 
and  practically  beyond  the  region  of 
killing  frosts.  A  daily  line  of  steamers 
renders  it  easy  of  access  from  Jackson- 
ville and  other  points  upon  the  river. 
This  plantation  covers  an  area  of  sever- 
al hundred  acres,  and  contains  over 
10,000  plants,  most  of  them  in  bearing. 
The  plants  are  of  different  varieties. 
Some  of  them  are  huge  trees,  twenty 
feet  high,  with  a  trunk  from  six  to 
eight  inches  in  diameter,  while  others 
and  probably  the  largest  number  are 
of  the  celebrated  dwarf  species,  stand- 
ing from  six  to  eight  feet  high,  with  a 
trunk  from  four  to  five  inches  in  diame- 
ter. The  Banana  as  cultivated  in  this 
climate  bears  no  visible  .  seed,  but  it  is 
propagated  from  slips  or  cuttings,  which 
bear  transplanting  well,  and  grow  with 
great  rapidity.  These  slips  are  gener- 
ally planted  about  eight  feet  apart;  if 
it  is  the  dwarf  species,  an  acre  of  good 
ground  will  contain  from  600  to  700 
plants.  They  require  a  deep  rich  soil, 
and  considerable  moisture.  It  has  no 
season,  but  the  fruit  matures  generally 
in  from  eleven  to  thirteen  months  from 
the  date  of  planting,  and  by  properly 
timing  the  planting,  ripe  fruit  may  be 
obtained  at  all  seasons  of  the  year. 

Soon  a  leaf  of  the  blossom  opens  at 
the  pointed  end,  and  rolls  back  to  the 
base,  disclosing  a  row  of  five  or  six  tiny 
Bananas  nestled  closely  together,  as  if 
hiding  under  the  shelter  of  this  protect- 
ing leaf.  Each  miniature  fruit  has  a 
waxen  yellow  flower  at  the  end,  with  a 
stigma  projecting  through  it.  Other 
leaves  of  the  blossom  unfold  one  after 
another  in  the  same  way,  until  twenty 
or  thirty  clusters  of  fruit  are  developed, 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


281 


all  clinging  to  one  stem,  when  these 
leaves  wither  and  fall,  and  the  fruit 
swells  and  lengthens  to  maturity,  which 
requires  generally  about  three  or  four 
months.  The  great  stem  on  which  the 
fruit  grows  bends  under  its  weight  un- 
til the  long  finger-like  fruit  hangs  down 
in  graceful  clusters. 

Each  plant  bears  but  a  single  bunch 
of  fruit,  and  then  withers  and  dies;  but 
while  the  fruit  is  maturing,  there  spring 
up  from  the  base  of  the  trunk  several 
offshoots,  which  take  the  place  of  the 
old  plant  when  that  has  been  removed, 
and  go  on  growing  to  the  full  size  of 
the  parent  tree. 

The  fruit,  when  grown  full  size,  be- 
gins to  show  streaks  of  yellow  upon  its 
deep  green  skin,  when  it  should  be 
gathered  for  shipment  to  market,  as  it 
is  easily  and  quickly' ripened  after  cut- 
ting by  wrapping  the  bunch  in  straw  or 
in  a  blanket,  and  keeping  it  in  a  warm 
place.  By  cutting  the  bunches  at  the 
right  time  they  can  be  shipped  to  New 
York  with  perfect  safety. 

Colonel  Whitney  has  upon  his  plan- 
tation to-day  thousands  of  bunches,  in 
all  stages  of  development,  from  thij  lit- 
tle miniature  buds  to  the  well-matured 
fruit  six  or  seven  inches  long.  Many  of 
these  bunches  contain  125  Bananas, 
which  sell  readily  to  shippers  at  two 
cents  each,  from  which  may  be  inferred 
the  great  profits  of  Banana  culture. 

An  acre  of  ground  will  readily  sup- 
port 600  plants.  Suppose  the  bunches 
to  average  75  Bananas  each,  and  we  have 
an  annual  income  of  $900  from  a  single 
acre.  The  cost  of  preparing  and  en- 
riching the  ground  and  setting  the 
plants  the  first  year,  including  the  cost 
of  the  slips,  will  average,  say,  $1  per 
plant,  leaving  a  profit  of  $300;  but  they 
perpetuate  themselves  after  the  first 
year,  and  require  but  little  expend- 
iture.    Besides,  the  shoots  that  spring 

Vol.  V.— 28. 


up  from  the  bulbous  root  -  stock  will 
supply  plants  enough  to  double  the 
number  each  year;  or  they  may  be  sold 
for  more  than  enough  to  pay  for  all  ex- 
penses after  the  first  year,  thus  leaving 
the  $900  net  for  the  second  and  suc- 
ceeding years. 

Humboldt  states  that  an  amount  of 
land  that  will  produce  1,000  pounds  of 
Potatoes  will  yield  44,000  pounds  of 
Bananas,  and  a  surface  bearing  Wheat 
enough  to  feed  one  man  will  yield  Ba- 
nanas enough  to  feed  twenty-five  men. 
— Atlanta  Herald. 


THE  WILLOW  IN  CALIFORNIA. 

BY  TO.   P.    GIBBONS. 

This  family  is  ambitious  in  its  way, 
ever  contending  for  supremacy  of  do- 
main, on  streams,  in  swamps,  by 
springs  and  watered  h^-sides.  It  is 
cosmopolitan;  for  claiming  a  foot-hold 
on  the  extreme  limit  of  arctic  vegeta- 
tion, it  spreads  in  number  and  species 
as  it  approaches  more  genial  climes, 
until  it  has  representatives  in  almost 
every  country. 

The  large  species  of  Willow  is  too 
brittle  for  anything  but  firewood,  but  it 
has  a  thick  bark,  which  forms  good  ma- 
terial for  tanning;  it  is  not  regarded, 
however,  as  being  more  than  half  the 
value  of  Oak-bark.  In  quantity  it  is  too 
sparse  to  afford  a  supply  to  the  mar- 
ket; for  the  large  trees  have  nearly  all 
succumbed  to  the  policy  of  most  Cali- 
fornia farmers,  which  appears  to  be  to 
destroy  timber  as  they  would  extermi- 
nate ground-squirrels  or  rattlesnakes. 

There  is  undoubtedly  a  large  field  for 
profitable  operations  in  cultivating  some 
of  our  native  Willows  for  hoop -poles 
and  baskets.  There  are  large  tracts  of 
low  and  swampy  land,  which  are  adapt- 


282 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


ed  especially  to  their  growth.  The 
swamp-land  at  the  junction  of  the  Yuba 
and  Sacramento,  the  bottom-land  of  the 
American  River,  the  sloughs  about  the 
Kern  River  country,  and  many  other 
parts  of  the  overflowed  land  of  Califor- 
nia, are  already  covered  with  dense 
thickets  of  several  species.  Such  local- 
ities in  England  are  called  osier  lands, 
or  osier  polts;  and  the  osier  "Willow  is 
not  a  specific  name,  but  is  applied  to 
all  species  which  are  cultivated  and 
used  in  the  arts.  Thus  the  Salix  For- 
byana  W.  is  most  esteemed  for  fine  bas- 
ket-work; the  8.  viminalis,  or  Gallicum 
Willow,  described  by  Columella,  is  the 
common  Osier;  the  Lambertiana  W., 
the  Vitelline/,  W.,  the  rubra  W.,  or 
green-leaved  Osier,  are  all  esteemed 
valuable  for  basket-work;  while  the 
stipularis  W.,  and  triandra  W.,  are 
used  for  coarse  work  and  for  hoops  and 
poles. 

But,  so  far  as  my  observation  has  ex- 
tended, I  do  not  think  there  is  any 
necessity  for  resorting  to  the  cultivation 
of  foreign  species  in  California;  as  some 
which  are  indigenous  to  the  Pacific 
slope  have  all  the  properties  which  are 
desirable  to  the  artisan.  I  must  here 
apologize  for  not  designating  those  spe- 
cies by  name,  notwithstanding  speci- 
mens are  in  my  herbarium.  The  fact 
is,  the  Willows,  in  addition  to  being 
a  numerous  and  wide-spread  family,  are 
so  hybridized  that  it  requires  more  fa- 
miliar acquaintance  with  them  than  the 
writer  possesses  to  identify  the  species. 

It  is  quite  common  to  see  some  of  our 
native  Willows  grow  to  be  fifteen  feet 
high,  with  a  butt  not  exceeding  one  and 
a  half  inches.  Recently  I  saw  two 
trees,  neither  of  which  exceeded  four 
inches  in  diameter,  which  were  thirty 
feet  high.  Experimental  cultivation 
of  some  of  these  species  is  well  worth 
the  trial.     The  Indians  make  extensive 


use  of  some  for  basket -making.  The 
small  twigs  are  tied  in  bundles  and 
laid  over  a  fire  to  steam,  after  which 
the  bark  is  easily  and  quickly  peeled  off. 
— Overland  Monthly, 


MAKE  HOMES. 


In  early  days  people  came  to  our 
shores  with  the  mere  purpose  to  collect 
a  certain  number  of  dollars  from  the 
golden  sands,  or  otherwise  make  them 
by  trade,  and  then  return  to  some  East- 
ern State  to  make  a  home.  California 
was  looked  upon  as  unfitted  for  the  ' 
planting  of  permanent  communities — 
was  regarded  as  a  sort  of  far-off  desert, 
where  men  of  extraordinary  pluck  and 
enterprise  might  exist  for  a  few  months, 
or  a  year  or  two  at  most,  until  they 
could  make  their  fortunes.  Many,  how- 
ever, soon  began  to  discover  the  virtues 
of  the  marvelous  climate  in  preserving 
the  vital  forces  of  the  human  body,  and 
here  and  there  experiments  in  agricult- 
ure and  horticulture  revealed  the  won- 
ders of  our  soil.  So  people  began  to 
settle,  but  s*till  there  exists  to  a  great 
extent  the  old  migratory  feeling,  the 
nomadic  desire  to  find  land  more  rich, 
grass  more  succulent,  and  water  more 
pure.  We  should  make  homes,  homes 
around  which  cluster  our  hopes  and 
joys.  Home  should  be  the  centre  of 
attraction  to  us,  the  spot  where  dwell 
our  loved  ones,  the  place  endeared  to 
us  by  all  tender  and  loving  associations, 
where  the  wife  is  the  true  mistress  of 
the  household,  the  husband  the  true 
head  of  the  family,  where  the  children 
get  their  earliest  and  most  lasting  im- 
pressions, and  where,  finally,  we  hope 
peacefully  to  breathe  our  last.  A  cot- 
tage embowered  in  vines,  and  hid  by 
the  foliage  of  trees  planted  and  nurt- 
ured by  ourselves,  may  contain  more 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


283 


of  the  elements  of  happiness  than  a 
rich  and  elaborately  finished  mansion. 
Carpenters  and  masons,  tinsmiths  and 
plumbers,  may  erect  houses  but  not 
homes.  The  man  who  has  a  home  must 
be  contented  with  his  station  and  lo- 
cality; he  must  have  shut  out  all 
thoughts  of  the  green  pastures  beyond, 
and  set  himself  about  the  great  duty 
of  making  those  around  him  happy, 
which  will  be  achieved  not  only  by  acts 
of  loving-kindness  to  the  people,  but 
also  by  acts  of  loving-kindness  to  the 
hills  and  valleys  he  possesses. 

In  Walter  Scott's  novel,  "The  Heart 
of  Mid  -Lothian,"  an  old  laird  dying  is 
made  to  say  to  his  son,  as  his  last  and 
most  important  advice,  "When  thou 
hast  nought  else  to  do,  lad,  be  putting 
in  a  tree.  They  will  grow  whilst  thou  art 
sleeping."  We  desire  to  impress  the 
same  advice  upon  all  who  are  making 
homes.  When  you  have  nothing  else 
to  do,  be  planting  trees.  Plant  trees 
for  shade,  trees  for  future  timber,  trees 
for  fruit.  Do  not  listen  to  the  fallacy 
that  fruit  is  so  plentiful  that  it  is  cheap- 
er to  buy  than  to  produce  it.  Let  your 
children  look  forward  to  the  budding 
of  the  trees  and  the  ripening  of  the 
fruit  as  eras;  let  them  watch  the  growth 
of  the  trees  they  have  planted,  and 
boast  of  the  forests  they  have  created. 
Make  them  feel  that  in  one  spot  they 
have  more  than  a  mere  purchasable  in- 
terest, and  that  spot  is  called  home. 


THE  "FRO  ST -FLO  WEE"  OF  RUSSIA. 

A  Boston  journal  describes  an  extra- 
ordinary Frost-flower  of  Russia,  which 
has  been  produced,  it  is  said,  in  Boston 
in  a  temperature  of  artificial  cold.  This 
wonderful  plant,  or  rather  flower,  is 
found  only  on  the  northern  boundaries 
of  Siberia,  where  the  snow  is  eternal. 


It  was  discovered  in  1863  by  Count 
Swinoskoff,  the  eminent  Russian  botan- 
ist, who  was  ennobled  by  the  Czar  for 
his  discovery.  Bursting  from  the  fro- 
zen snow  on  the  first  day  of  the  year,  it 
grows  to  the  height  of  three  feet,  and 
flowers  on  the  third  day,  remains  in 
flower  twenty-four  hours,  and  then  dis- 
solves itself  into  its  original  element — 
stem,  leaves,  and  flowers  being  of  the 
finest  snow.  The  stalk  is  about  one 
inch  in  diameter;  the  leaves — three  in 
number  —  in  the  broadest  part  are  one 
inch  and  a  half  in  width,  and  are  cov- 
ered with  infinitesimal  cones  of  snow; 
they  grow  only  on  one  side  of  the  stalk, 
to  the  north,  curving  gracefully  in  the 
same  direction.  The  flower  when  ful- 
ly expanded,  is  in  shape,  a  perfect  star; 
the  petals  are  three  inches  in  length, 
half  an  inch  wide  in  the  broadest  parts, 
and  tapering  sharply  to  a  point.  These 
are  also  interlaced  one  with  another  in 
a  beautiful  manner,  forming  the  most 
delicate  basket  of  frost  -work  the  most 
wonderful.  The  anthers  are  five  in 
number,  and  on  the  third  day  after  the 
birth  of  the  "  flower  of  snow  "  are  to  be 
seen  on  the  extremities  thereof,  trem- 
bling and  glittering  like  diamonds,  the 
seeds  of  this  wonderful  flower,  about  as 
large  as  a  pin's  head.  The  old  botan- 
ist says,  when  he  first  beheld  this  flow- 
er, "I  was  dumb  with  astonishment; 
filled  with  wonderment,  which  gave 
way  to  joy  the  most  ecstatic  on  behold- 
ing this  wonderful  work  of  nature,  this 
remarkable  phenomenon  of  snow  —  to 
see  this  flower  springing  froin  the 
snowy  desert,  born  of  its  own  compo- 
site atoms.  I  touched  the  stem  of  one 
lightly,  but  it  fell  at  my  touch,  and  a 
morsel  of  snow  only  remained  in  my 
hand."  Gathering  some  of  the  flowers 
in  snow,  in  order  to  preserve  the  little 
diamond -like  seeds,  he  hied  to  St. 
Petersburg  with,  to  him,  the  greatest 


284 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


prize  of  his  life-time.  All  through  the 
year  they  were  kept  in  snow,  and  on 
the  first  day  of  the  year  following,  the 
Court  of  St.  Petersburg  were  delight- 
ed with  the  bursting  forth  of  the  won- 
derful "Frost-flower."  Our  friends  in 
Boston  succeeded  in  obtaining  several 
of  the  seeds,  and  all  through  the  summer 
and  autumn  they  have  been  imbedded 
in  snow  brought  at  great  expense  from 
the  "White  Mountains  and  the  Coast  of 
Labrador;  and  they  now  have  the  most 
unbounded  satisfaction  and  pleasure  of 
announcing  that  all  signs  are  favorable 
to  the  realization  of  their  fondest  hopes, 
the  production  of  the  "  flower  of  snow." 
The  snow  and  ice  are  in  a  large  glass 
refrigerator,  with  the  thermometer  for- 
ty-five degrees  below  zero,  and  the  sol- 
id bed  of  snow  has  already  begun  to 
show  little  fissures  and  a  slight  bulging 
in  the  centre,  unmistaken  evidences  of 
the  forthcoming  of  the  phenomenon. — 
N.  Y.  Christian  Advocate. 


CALIFORNIA  OAKS. 


There  are  three  species  of  Oaks  which 
are  most  prominent  in  this  State — the 
Evergreen  Oak  (Quercus  agrifolia),  the 
Sacramento  Live-oak  (Q.  lobata),  and  al- 
so, among  the  foot-hills  of  the  Sierra, 
the  Live-oak  (Q.  chrysolepis).  The  first 
is  a  very  prominent  figure  in  our  nat- 
ural landscape.  They  resemble  in  gen- 
eral an  old  eastern  Apple-tree,  though 
they  vary  much  in  size  and  shape.  Of 
late  it  has  been  much  injured  in  spring 
by  the  attacks  of  myriads  of  caterpil- 
lars, and  loses  its  foliage,  which,  how- 
ever, is  renewed  in  the  summer.  The 
Evergreen  Oak  since  the  first  settle- 
ment of  the  country  has  been  used  for 
firewood.  It  is  unfit  for  manufactur- 
ing purposes,  and  it  is  too  perishable  to 
be  exposed  to  the  weather  for  fences 


and  'posts.  "When  green  it  is  easy  work 
for  the  chopper,  but  when  seasoned  is 
very  hard  and  tough. — Overland  Monthly. 


CAMELLIAS. 


Among  greenhouse  plants  I  do  not 
think  there  is  another  which  possesses 
the  superb  beauty  of  the  Japonica,  or 
which  has  more  admirers.  The  beauti- 
ful flowers  of  varied  colors  contrast 
pleasantly  with  the  dark-green  foliage; 
they  are  also  well  adapted  for  the  dec- 
oration of  the  dinner -table,  bouquet- 
makings  or  for  dressing  ladies'  hair, 
which  makes  them  one  of  the  most  val- 
uable of  greenhouse  plants.  Like  a 
good  many  more  of  our  finer  greenhouse 
plants,  we  owe  considerable  to  those 
who  have  diligently  and  successfully 
persevered  in  intercrossing  and  raising 
seedlings,  both  in  Europe  and  America, 
to  obtain  the  many  kinds  now  in  culti- 
vation. 

The  soil  best  adapted  for  Camellias 
is  good  turfy  loam,  made  porous  with 
river  sand,  if  not  naturally  so,  and 
when  potting,  which  should  be  done 
when  the  plants  commence  making  their 
growth,  do  so  rather  firm,  giving  plenty 
of  drainage.  During  the  time  they  are 
making  their  growth  give  an  abundance 
of  water  at  the  roots,  with  frequent  syr- 
inging and  sponging  of  the  leaves  when 
the  least  dust  accumulates  upon  them. 
Nothing  is  more  beneficial  for  the.  lux- 
uriant health  of  the  Camellia  than  clean- 
liness. I  need  not  make  an  exception 
of  this  plant,  as  plants  of  every  kind, 
especially  evergreen  plants,  require  the 
greatest  care  in  keeping  them  clean,  if 
anything  like  success  in  their  culture  is 
aimed  at,  not  only  from  dust  on  the 
leaves,  but  also  from  insects. 

When  they  have  finished  their  growth, 
they  will   not  require  so  much  water, 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


285 


but  at  the  same  time  considerable  care 
is  necessary  to  give  enough,  as  allowing 
them  to  get  too  dry  or  too  wet  will  make 
them  drop  their  buds.  When  all  dan- 
ger of  frost  is  past,  set  the  plants  out- 
doors in  some  place  partially  shaded, 
where  they  may  remain  until  fall,  when 
they  will  require  to  be  put  back  into  the 
greenhouse.  Previous  to  doing  so, 
however,  it  is  advisable  to  sponge  the 
leaves  over,  using  clean  water. 

Camellias  are  very  impatient  when 
much  heat  is  given  them  for  the  purpose 
of  forcing  them  into  flower.  Under 
such  circumstances  they  are  apt  to  drop 
their  buds.  When  required  for  early 
flowering,  it  is  best  to  give  a  pretty 
brisk  heat  when  making  their  growth 
in  the  spring,  and  induce  them  to  ma- 
ture early;  and  housing  them  in  fall 
pretty  early,  they  will  open  their  flow- 
ers much  sooner  than  those  allowed  to 
mature  their  wood  and  set  their  buds 
slowly.  Camellias  flower  best,  and 
make  better  wood,  when  planted  in  a 
bed  prepared  for  them  in  the  green- 
house. 


THE    BAY -TREE    (OREODAPHNE 
FORNICA.) 


CALI- 


Dr.  W.  P.  Gibbons  thus  speaks  con- 
cerning the  characteristics  of  this  beau- 
tiful native  tree : 

"It  stands  almost  peerless  in  the  Coast 
Range  sylva.  Its  deep  green  cones  of 
foliage,  scattered  through  gulches  and 
along  hill -sides,  give  greater  depth 
and  wildness  to  canons,  and  mingle 
with  the  rounded  tops  of  the  Evergreen 
Oak  to  form  the  characteristic  scenery 
of  the  rock-faced  mountains.  Early  in 
January  its  clusters  of  wax-like  flowers 
appear,  half -hidden  and  protected  from 
untimely  cold  by  a  profusion  of  thick 
shining  lanceolate  leaves.  The  fruit  of 
the  previous  seasons,  about  the  size  of 


a  large  filbert,  holds  its  place  beside  the 
blossoms,  so  that  every  gradation  of  in- 
florescence may  be  seen,  from  the  half- 
developed  flower -bud  to  the  mature 
carpel.  Like  the  Willow,  its  favorite 
locality  is  along  the  course  of  streams 
and  on  springy  hill-sides,  but  it  will  ac- 
commodate itself  to  almost  any  locality. 
Its  pungent  aroma  fills  the  atmosjohere 
without  its  circumference,  and  doubt- 
less it  exerts  an  anti-malarial  influence 
as  powerful  as  the  Eucalyptus,  or  any 
other  tree  which  has  gained  a  real  or 
factitious  reputation  in  this  respect. — 
Overland  Monthly. 


PAPEE  FROM  SUGAR  -  CANE. 


In  conversation,  the  other  evening, 
the  new  discovery  made  in  France,  and 
patented  by  MM.  Merelens  &  Kresser, 
of  making  paper  pulp  from  the  refuse 
cane  of  the  sugar-mills,  came  upon  the 
tapis.  The  question  was  put,  if  it  was 
not  possible  to  procure  paper  pulp  from 
Corn-stalks  as  well  as  from  Sugar-cane 
stalks.  Some  one  thought  it  had  been 
done,  and  was  the  basis  of  the  French 
discovery,  but  this  was  disputed. 

Hitherto,  sugar  -  planters  have  been 
obliged  to  burn  the  refuse  of  their  Su- 
gar-cane making,  and  mills  were  pro- 
vided for  the  purpose.  This  discovery 
of  making  paper  pulp  of  it  is  putting  to 
valuable  service  a  hitherto  useless  and 
cumbersome  residue. 

The  pulp  thus  procured  is  reported 
to  require  less  bleaching  than  that  oth- 
erwise required,  and  the  paper  made  of 
it  is  said  to  be  of  good  quality. 

If  a  similar  pulp  could  be  procured 
from  the  Corn-stalk,  the  stalk  would  be 
available  even  after  it  had  been  used  for 
fodder.  At  present  the  part  the  ani- 
mal refuses  is  either  burned  or  thrown 
upon  the  compost  pile. — Ex. 


286 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


OENAHENTAL  GEASSES. 


Among  the  grasses  from  which  you 
can  make  choice  for  garden  decorative 
use  we  name  several  that  in  our  Ameri- 
can gardens  would  add  material  f  eatures 
of  beauty  to  them.  The  cultivation  of 
the  grasses  has  been  almost  entirely 
overlooked,  and  only  occasionally  are 
our  eyes  pleased  with  the  beauties  of 
the  tall  waving  plumes  of  the  Gynerium 
argenteum.  This  is  a  favorite  adjunct 
of  English  and  European  gardens,  and 
no  garden  of  well-assorted  selections  is 
considered  complete  without  a  clump  of 
the  waving  plumy  Pampas  Grass.  Our 
American  gardens  lack  the  tropical  ele- 
ment and  situations  adapted  to  the 
growing  of  the  tall  variegated  grasses, 
so  beautiful  in  the  fall  months,  and  for 
that  reason  they  are  almost  entirely  dis- 
carded. This  should  not  be.  "We 
would  enter  our  plea  for  a  little  nook  or 
corner  in  the  garden  where  the  Pampas 
and  the  Stipa  pennata  as  well  as  the  Vio- 
lets may  be  grown.  We  do  not  urge 
the  cultivation  of  these  grasses,  varie- 
gated and  elegant  though  they  are,  in 
large  numbers,  for  that  would  be  an 
impossibility,  but  we  ask  our  readers, 
particularly  the  ladies,  to  procure  from 
the  florists  in  May  at  least  one  good 
strong  plant  of  the  two  above-named 
grasses,  to  which  I  would  add  the  An- 
dropogan  argenteum,  a  slender-growing 
species  with  silvery-hued  leaves  and 
plumes.  All  the  above  are  quite  hardy, 
and  if  large  clumps  of  roots  can  be  pro- 
cured they  will  live  and  thrive  well. 

In  procuring  any  of  the  above  grasses 
be  particular  to  get  a  large-sized  clump 
of  roots,  as  from  one  or  two  stalks  your 
chance  for  raising  good  tall  grasses  is 
very  poor.  Having  from  this  cause 
made  numerous  failures  in  the  growth 
of  these  grasses,  I  would  urge  the  fact 
that  until  I  obtained  good  clumps  of 


well-rooted  grasses  my  labor  and  suc- 
cess was  entirely  in  vain.  With  the 
right  kinds  of  roots  I  had  good  success. 
Seeds  of  the  various  kinds  of  these 
grasses  may  be  procured  from  most  of 
our  first-class  seedsmen,  and  from  them 
you  should  purchase  if  you  are  desirous 
of  getting  the  true  seed.  You  can  sow 
the  seed  and  raise  your  own  plants  if 
you  are  prepared  to  give  much  care  to 
the  work;  if  not  you  had  better  buy 
plants.  The  perennial  kinds  are  the 
best  as  a  general  rule,  but  the  annual 
and  biennial  species  are  beautiful  and 
unique,  and  if  added  will  repay  all  your 
care.  I  have  often  looked  at  the  tall 
stems  and  silvery  plumes  of  the  Pam- 
pas Grass,  full  three  feet  in  height, 
glistening  and  changing  from  deep 
green  to  silvery  white.  This  grass  is  a 
little  tender,  and  in  northern  latitudes 
a  little  inrpatient  of  cold,  but  with  a  lit- 
tle straw  covering  the  roots  it  will  go 
through  with  our  winters  in  safety.  I 
have  often  cultivated  it,  and  can  recom- 
mend it  as  a  beautiful  ornament.  I  rec- 
ollect a  garden  in  one  of  our  pleasant 
New  England  towns  in  which  I  placed 
in  good  position  six  very  fine  Yucca  fl- 
amentosa  and  six  Gynerium  argenteum. 
About  the  beds  and  foregrounds  were 
placed  the  diversified  and  many-colored 
Geraniums,  and  when  the  garden  was  in 
good  condition  the  appearance  was  par- 
ticularly effective;  then  one  plant  helps 
to  set  off  the  beauties  and  graces  of  the 
other,  and  the  decline  of  the  sun  not 
only  scattered  the  fragrance  of  the 
pearly  flowers  of  the  Yucca,  but  drew 
around  its  hundreds  of  bell -shaped 
flowers  numberless  species  of  the  hum- 
ming-bird and  wren. 

In  ordinary  garden  culture  all  these 
plants  will  grow,  and  there  are  many 
others  of  this  species  of  easy  culture, 
which,  if  transferred  from  their  native 
haunts,  would  be  much  improved  and 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICTJLTURIST. 


287 


"beautiful  additions  to  our  gardens. 
With  one  more  plant,  the  Arundo  donax , 
a  very  large  and  beautiful  one  growing 
in  clumps,  we  close  this  article.  This 
plant,  under  good  cultivation,  will  send 
up  a  long,  reed-like  stem  to  the  height 
of  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  our  very  North- 
ern States.  It  seldom  flowers,  but  in 
sheltered  places,  or  protcted  it  will 
give  forth  its  fine  blossoms.  Even  with- 
out its  blossoms,  this  plant  is  very  fine 
and  picturesque.  In  ordinarily  good  po- 
sition it  will  flower  every  moderately 
warm  year. 


FLOWEES  AS  A   SANITARY  AGENT. 

We  all  have  heard  what  the  alarmists 
say — that  the  odors  of  many  flowers  are 
injurious  to  health.  But  modern  sci- 
ence teaches  us  that  ill  effects  produced 
by  the  odors  of  one  set  of  plants  and 
flowers  are  balanced,  perhaps  quite  over- 
matched, by  the  good  effects  of  other 
sets.  Most  of  us  have  heard  of  "  ozone." 
It  is  one  of  those  capital  ingredients  of 
the  world  that  has  existed  from  the  be- 
ginning, but  which  has  only  of  late 
years  been  actually  recognized,  and  con- 
sists, in  plain  English,  of  highly  electri- 
fied oxygen;  the  gas,  when  so  electri- 
fied, acquiring  specially  good  qualities 
in  regard  to  the  general  health  of  man- 
kind. Prof.  Montegazza,  of  Padua, 
states  that  certain  plants  and  flowers, 
upon  exposure  to  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
cause  so  large  an  increase  in  the  quan- 
tity of  ozone  round  about,  as  to  be  emi- 
nently conducive  to  a  better  condition 
of  the  atmosphere,  of  course  with  the 
understanding  that  there  is  proper  ven- 
tilation, such  as  will  carry  off  the  excess 
of  purely  odorous  matter  that  may  arise 
from  them.  Among  these  ozone  manu- 
facturers of  the  botanical  world  are  the 
Cherry  Laurel  (poisonous  in  its  leaves 


and  kernels),  the  Clove,  Lavender,  Mint, 
Fennel,  the  Lemon-tree,  and  others; 
also  the  Narcissus,  the  Heliotrope,  the 
Hyacinth,  and  Mignonette.  Certain 
prepared  perfumes,  similarly  exposed 
to  the  sunshine,  add  further  to  the  at- 
mospheric stock  of  ozone;  the  well 
known  eau-de-cologne,  for  instance, 
oil  of  bergamot,  extract  of  millefleurs, 
essence  of  lavender,  and  some  of  the 
aromatic  tinctures.  The  oxidation  of 
certain  essential  oils  obtained  from 
plants  and  flowers,  such  as  the  oils  of 
nutmeg,  aniseed,  thyme,  and  pepper- 
mint, is  likewise  indicated  by  the  pro- 
fessor as  a  source  of  ozone,  though  the 
sxipply  of  this  pleasant  aerial  condiment 
is  in  the  case  of  these  less  considerable. 
Dr.  Montegazza  recommends  according- 
ly the  large  and  sedulous  cultivation  of 
ozone-producing  plants  in  all  districts 
and  localities  where  the  atmosphere  is 
liable  to  be  corrupted,  marshy  places  in 
particular;  in  which  last,  according  to 
Dr.  Cornelius  Fox,  in  his  recent  com- 
prehensive work  upon  ozone,  it  is  im- 
possible for  any  better  sanitary  agent 
to  be  introduced  than  the  common  Sun- 
flower. This  plant,  happily  able  to 
make  itself  quite  at  home  in  the  poorest 
cottage  backyard,  has  been  shown  not 
only  to  purify  the  atmosphere  of  marshy 
places,  removing  a  very  decided  amount 
of  the  miasmata  ordinarily  there  engen- 
dered, but  to  confer  the  positive  benefit 
of  augmenting  the  quantity  of  ozone. 
People  are  recommended  often  to  the 
sea-side,  or  the  special  marine  watering- 
places,  for  the  sake  of  their  reputed 
wealth  in  ozone.  Should  we  not  move 
a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  man  who  has 
shown  us  how  to  arrange  for  supplies 
upon  our  own  premises? 


Seeds  of  Peach  and  Plum,  from  heal- 
thy trees,  may  now  be  saved  and  pre- 
served in  boxes  of  sand,  for  planting. 


288 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


Mitml&l  iwiMta. 


EXHIBITION  OF  THE   MECHANICS'  IN- 
STITUTE. 


THE    PAVILION   GAKDEN. 


Whatever  serves  to  advance  the  prog- 
gress  of  society  in  the  aesthetics  and 
graces  of  life,  in  the  contemplation  of 
the  wonders  of  nature,  and  the  cultiva- 
tion of  those  things  which  lead  to  do- 
mestic elegancies  and  refinement,  must 
be  worthy  of  our  culture  and  encourage- 
ment. The  improvements  in  the  for- 
mation of  gardens  and  grounds — in  oth- 
er words,  modern  landscape  gardening 
— in  the  cultivation  of  flowers,  trees, 
and  shrubs,  in  the  erection  of  orna- 
mental and  useful  rural  buildings,  rock- 
eries, fountains,  bird  and -bee  houses, 
plant-cases,  fish  ponds  and  tanks,  and 
all  the  numerous  other  garden  adorn- 
ments, are  but  the  beads  in  our  rosary 
of  homage  to  the  spirit  of  beauty,  and 
are  all  objects  worthy  of  designation  as 
showing  an  improved  era  in  the  social 
life  of  our  comparatively  young  city  and 
State.  These  are  all  signs  and  accom- 
paniments of  the  rapid  march  of  the 
popular  mind  in  the  appreciation  of 
what  is  lovely,  and  the  happy  means  in 
the  promotion  of  our  intellectual  and 
moral  tastes.  We  are,  at  any  rate, 
surely  in  the  ascent  toward  them,  and 
our  course  is  becoming  steadier,  and 
our  light  purer  as  we  rise.  Our  rooms 
are  commencing  to  sparkle  with  the 
products  of  art,  and  our  gardens  with 
the  enchantments  and  curiosities  of  nat- 
ure. Our  domestic  life  is  beginning  to 
be  a  guarantee  of  the  greatness  of  our 
State  in  the  national  grandeur  of  all  her 
sister  States,  and  as  long  as  we  shall 
continue  to  surround  that  life  with 
these  emblems  and  suggestions  of  high- 
er things,  so  long  will  the  highest 
teachings  of  knowledge,  elegance,  and 
virtue  be  attainable  at  our  homes. 


These  remarks  have  been  suggested 
by  a  view  of  the  horticultural  depart- 
ment of  the  Fair.  These  garden 
grounds,  or  miniature  park,  by  the  ex- 
ertion and  taste  of  Mr.  Schumann,  un- 
der supervision  of  Mr.  Hall,  the  Park 
Superintendent,  are  made  quite  attrac- 
tive. A  great  deal  of  good  taste  and 
judgment  has  been  used  in  the  laying 
out  and  ornamentation  of  this  pleasant 
and  delightful  garden.  It  is  a  very 
admirable  contrivance  for  the  purposes 
of  beauty  and  pleasure  for  which  it  is 
intended.  We  consider  that  the  deco- 
rations are  quite  appropriate  to  the 
style  in  which  the  ground  is  laid  out, 
and  the  kind  of  plants  with  which  it 
is  stocked.  A  few  leading  principles 
are  most  judiciously  observed  at  start- 
ing; everything  falling  into  its  proper 
place,  and  there  are  no  eye-sores  or 
incongruities.  It  is  a  judicious  blend- 
ing of  the  Italian  with  the  English  mod- 
ern style.  Unfortunately,  but  few  of 
us  can  appropriately  develop  the  true 
theory  of  gardening  in  the  close  neigh- 
borhood of  towns,  for  the  imposing  ter- 
race, the  spacious  lawn,  large  fountains 
and  shrubberies,  occupy  more  space 
than  can  be  obtained,  except  by  our 
millionaire  owners  of  broad  acres.  All 
that  can  properly  be  done  in  a  limited 
space  like  the  Pavilion  garden,  is  to 
do  what  was  done  by  its  managers — 
namely,  to  have  the  main  portion  of  it 
of  verdant  grass-plats,  with  small  beds 
of  choice  and  vivid  flowers  near  its  bor- 
ders; flowering  shrubs  beyond,  near  the 
boundaries,  and  appearing  to  great  ad- 
vantage against  the  darker  background 
of  massive  evergreens  which  hide  the 
walls  and  thicken  in  the  prospect;  a 
handsome  rustic  arbor  with  seats  at  the 
farther  end;  adorned  with  a  fountain  in 
front;  rockeries  with  plants,  vases  of 
flowers  on  pedestals,  statuary  among 
the  shrubs  and  evergreens,  and  speci- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


289 


men  foliage  plants  here  and  there  in  ap- 
propriate position. 

A  gracefully  formed  tent  produces  a 
good  effect  on  the  lawn  and  against  the 
border  shrubbery.  The  prismatic  fount- 
ain, with  the  sheet  of  water  flowing 
over  it,  and  its  internal  illumination  in 
the  evening,  shows  off  its  brilliant 
panes  of  crimson,  blue,  and  pink  to 
great  advantage,  and  the  gorgeous  col- 
ors reflect  their  changeable  glare  on 
water,  jets,  rock-work,  and  the  amphib- 
ious creatures — the  crocodile  and  hippo- 
potamus— below. 

Mr.  Woodward  makes  his  usual  hand- 
some show  of  tropical  and  semi-tropical 
plants,  ferns,  etc.,  on  the  side  of  the 
platform,  before  entering  the  garden. 

Mr.  L.  Tisch,  florist,  with  Mr.  Kelsey, 
Oakland,  presents  a  very  beautiful  dis- 
play of  Coleus  or  foliage  and  some  oth- 
er fine  plants;  one  particular  Coleus 
being  a  new  handsome  seedling  of  his 
own  raising. 

Messrs.  T.  O'Connor  &  Co.,  of  San- 
some  Street,  exhibit  some  specimens 
of  Bahia  Oranges  and  Lemons,  with 
Norfolk  Island  Pines  and  choice  Ferns, 
and  other  valuable  plants  from  Aus- 
tralia. The  Oranges  are,  some  of 
them,  of  the  "Naval"  variety,  and 
are  splendid.  This  firm  also  shows 
some  fine  Gladioluses,  and  constantly 
renew  their  table  with  new  specimens 
of  a  variety  of  tropical  and  other  vari- 
eties. 

Mr.  Beggs,  collector  of  a  large  quan- 
tity of  superb  Pine  and  other  cones,  who 
has  been  six  months  at  work  in  the 
mountains  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
them  in  this  city,  has  erected  a  pictur- 
esque arbor,  covered  with  evergreen 
boughs,  and  richly  ornamented  in  every 
part  with  a  great  variety  of  cones.  This 
rustic  piece  of  work  is  a  curious,  in- 
teresting, pretty,  and  imposing  object. 
Mr.     Trumbull,    florist,    of    Sansome 


Street,  has  added  considerable  beauty 
to  it,  by  a  number  ,of  graceful  hanging 
baskets  and  other  floral  decorations, 
with  plants,  seeds,  and  other  interest- 
ing horticultural  objects. 

Mr.  Upton  makes  a  good  exhibit  of  cut 
Dahlias  and  Gladioluses. 

F.  Ludeman  exhibits  a  large  and 
choice  variety  of  evergreens,  tropical 
plants,  foliage  plants,  and  some  valua- 
ble specimens  of  flowering  plants. 

Messrs.  Miller  &  Sievers  exhibit  a 
portion  only  of  their  usual  large  dis- 
play of  choice  and  new  plants,  with  a 
case  of  floral  baskets,  in  wood,  straw, 
and  paper,  and  other  elegant  recepta- 
cles, etc.,  for  flowers  and  bouquets,  and 
a  large  variety  of  Dahlias,  Gladioluses, 
etc. 

Mr.  Bailey,  of  Oakland,  an  extensive 
cultivator  of  the  Eucalyptus  tribe,  ex- 
hibits them  growing  in  boxes;  and  has 
a  piece  of  the  trunk  of  the  Eucalyptus 
globulus,  or  Blue  Gum,  at  least  two 
feet  in  diameter — the  growth  of  only 
eleven  years.  They  are  raised  chiefly 
for  forest  culture. 

Other  horticultural  exhibits  are  in 
preparation,  but  are  not  in  a  sufficient 
state  of  completeness  for  present  notice. 
We  would  have  much  liked  to  see  the 
horticultural  hall  better  lighted  at  night. 
It  should  have  had  at  least  double  the 
number  of  gas-burners,  or  some  other 
kind  of  additional  lights.  By  clay,  the 
light  and  temperature  are  all  that 
could  be  desired,  both  for  man  and 
vegetation.  A  few  more  beds  of  showy 
flowers,  also,  would  have  been  a  desira- 
ble acquisition  for  the  general  effect. 

At  Bowen  Brothers'  stand  there  is  a 
fine  assortment  of  California  candied  or 
crystalized  fruits  of  Apples,  Peaches, 
Apricots,  Plums,  etc.,  in  large  glass 
jars,  put  up  by  William  R.  Smith,  of 
Davisville.  They  are  of  the  finest 
quality  ever  shown  here — either  Ameri- 


290 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


can,  French,  or  English.  The  fruit  is 
almost  transparent.  This  is  a  fine  ad- 
dition to  the  capital  dried  fruits  of  our 

coast. 

«, 

PRUNING  HYDRANGEAS.     • 

The  Hydrangea  is  cultivated  and 
pruned  in  two  different  ways:  for  pot 
culture,  and  the  training  for  out-door 
plants.  The  safest  way  to  prune  it  for 
out-door  culture  is  never  to  cut  back 
one  morsel  of  the  young  wood  till  it  has 
done  flowering,  and  then  to  cut  it  back 
entirely  to  the  old  wood;  never  to  cut 
back  the  old  wood  until  it  gets  too 
crowded,  and  then  cut  back  to  a  prom- 
ising young  shoot ;  to  thin  out  young 
shoots  when  they  are  three  joints  long, 
if  they  come  much  crowded,  and  not  to 
allow  suckers  to  grow  from  the  roots  on 
any  account  whatever.  There  is  noth- 
ing differing  in  principle  between  prun- 
ing a  Gooseberry-bush  and  a  Hydran- 
gea-bush; the  old  thumb-rule  and  the 
best  rule  for  Gooseberry  pruning  is: 
"What  you  cut,  cut  clean  out,  and 
what  you  leave  do  not  touch  with  the 
knife."  But  the  drooping  kinds  of 
Gooseberries  require  some  of  the  points 
of  the  young  shoots  to  be  cut  back  to 
prevent  them  from  trailing  too  much  on 
the  ground.  We  all  know  Hydrangeas 
should  be  planted  in  shady  places. 


NEW  HYBRIDIZED   GLADIOLUS. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  kindness  of 
Mr.  B.  F.  Wellington,  florist  and  seeds- 
man, 425  Washington  Street,  for  our 
frontispiece  this  month,  which  shows  a 
very  handsome  illustration  of  one  of 
these  showy  and  favorite  florists'  flow- 
ers. The  almost  infinite  variety  of  col- 
ors that  are  now  produced  by  hybridiz- 
ing this  splendid  garden  beauty  ren- 
ders it  much  sought  after.     We  have 


previously  written  rather  fully  upon 
this  rich  and  diversified  colored  bulb- 
ous plant,  and  shall  do  so  still  more 
at  large  in  some  of  our  future  numbers. 
At  present  we  have  but  space  sufficient 
to  make  this  brief  notice  of  our  plate 
for  the  present  number  of  the  Horti- 
culturist. 


PICTURES  RECEIVED. 

We  have  the  pleasure  to  acknowledge 
with  many  thanks  the  receipt  of  four 
finely  drawn  and  splendidly  colored 
lithographs  of  flowers  and  foliage  plants 
from  William  Bull,  F.L.S.,  florist  and 
nurseryman  to  the  queen.  They  are 
from  his  large  establishment  for  new 
and  rare  plants,  King's  Road,  Chelsea, 
London,  S.  W.  These  beautiful  plants 
are:  Dyplaclemia  Brearleyana,  Pelargo- 
nium Beauty  of  Oxton,  Croton  majesti- 
cum,  and  Croton  Spirale.  They  are  well 
worthy  of  being  handsomely  framed. 


CATALOGUES  RECEIVED. 

From  Ellwanger  &  Barry,  Rochester, 
N.  Y. :  "A  Catalogue  of  Ornamental 
Trees,  Shrubs,  Roses,  Flowering  Plants, 
etc.,  for  1875."  This  is  the  most  com- 
plete, best  arranged,  and  handsomest 
nursery  catalogue  that  has  ever  been 
printed  in  this  country.  It  embraces 
an  unusual  quantity  of  novelties,  both 
in  evergreen  and  deciduous  trees  and 
shrubs.  The  lists  of  Roses,  Paeonias, 
and  Phloxes  are  larger  and  more  com- 
plete than  we  have  ever  seen  them  be- 
fore. The  entire  catalogue  is  replete 
with  interest,  and  should  be  in  the  pos- 
session of  everyone  who  has  the  least 
taste  for  the  beautiful  in  nature. 

From  James  Yick,  Rochester,  N.  Y. : 
"  Yick's  Floral  Guide,  No.  4,  for  1875." 
This  number  is  mainly  and  appropri- 
ately devoted  to  the  culture  of  Hardy 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


291 


Bulbs,  which  furnish  our  earliest  and 

choicest  spring  flowers.     It  treats  also 

on  the  Winter  Garden,  Autumn  Work 

in  the  Garden,  and  Culture  of  Bulbs, 

Seeds,  etc. 

» 

Rake  Plants  rx  Bloom. — At  Wood- 
ward's Gardens  is  now  in  bloom  a  Cent- 
ury Plant  some  twenty-five  feet  high,  a 
number  of  different  varielies  of  Orchids 
or  air-plants,  and  the  beautiful  Holy 
Ghost  Flower  (Peristeria  elata),  so  call- 
ed from  the  flower  resembling  the  form 
of  a  dove.     It  is  seldom  seen  in  bloom. 


How  to  Distinguish  Good  from  Poi- 
sonous Mushrooms. — So  many  deaths  or 
severe  cases  of  poisoning  occur  from 
eating  poisonous  mushrooms,  that  it  is 
very  important  to  know  how  to  dis- 
tinguish the  good  from  the  bad.  The 
following  is  given  by  Prof.  Bentley, 
which,  though  not  full  or  unerring, 
gives  the  general  features  by  which 
the  edible  or  under  trees  and  poison- 
ous species  of  fungi  may  best  be  dis- 
tinguished :  The  edible  mushrooms 
grow  solitary,  in  dry,  airy  places,  and 
are  generally  white  or  brownish ;  they 
have  a  compact,  brittle  flesh;  do  not 
change  color,  when  cut,  by  the  action 
of  the  air ;  juicy,  watery,  and  odor 
agreeable ;  taste  not  bitter,  acrid,  salt, 
or  astringent.  The  poisonous  mush- 
rooms, on  the  contrary,  grow  in  clusters 
in  woods,  and  in  dark  damp  places, 
and  are  usually  of  a  bright  color ;  their 
flesh  is  tough,  soft,  and  watery,  and 
they  acquire  a  brown,  green,  or  blue 
tint  when  cut  and  exposed  to  the  air ; 
the  juice  is  often  milky,  the  odor  com- 
monly powerful  and  disagreeable,  and 
the  taste  either  acrid,  astringent,  acid, 
salt,  or  bitter.  These  characteristics 
are  almost  invariable. 


FEUIT   CULTIVATION,    AND 

EEPOET  ON  THE  FEUIT  AND  YEGETA- 

TABLE  MAEKET. 

BY   E.    J.    HOOPER. 

We  have  so  favorable  a  climate  and 
soil  for  the  culture  and  propagation  of 
all  fruits,  that  they  offer  much  encour- 
agement for  originating  new  fruits,  as 
well  as  introducing  here  all  those  that 
are  cultivated  elsewhere,  either  in  Eu- 
rope or  America. 

In  sowing  seeds  for  the  purpose  of 
procuring  improved  varieties  —  which 
should  be  the  aim  of  many  of  our  fruit- 
ists  who  are  so  situated  as  to  have  fa- 
vorable opportunities  and  facilities — 
care  should  be  had  not  only  that  the 
seeds  should  be  taken  from  the  finest 
existing  kinds,  but  also  that  the  hand- 
somest, the  largest,  and  the  most  per- 
fectly ripened  specimens  should  supply 
the  seeds.  A  seedling  plant  will  always 
partake  more  or  less  of  the  character  of 
its  parent,  the  qualities  of  which  are 
concentrated  in  the  embryo  when  it  has 
arrived  at  full  maturity.  How  this  con- 
centration takes  place  we  are  as  ignorant 
as  why  certain  constitutional  peculiari- 
ties in  men  are  transferred  from  father 
to  son,  generation  after  generation,  but 
we  know  that  it  does  take  place.  Now, 
if  the  general  qualities  of  a  given  va- 
riety are  concentrated  in  the  embryo 
under  any  circumstances,  it  is  reasona- 
ble to  suppose  that  they  will  be  most 
especially  concentrated  in  a  seed  taken 
from  that  part  of  a  tree  in  which  its  pe- 
culiar good  qualities  reside  in  the  high- 
est degree.  For  instance  in  the  fruit 
of  an  apple  growing  in  much  shade  and 
to  the  north  there  is  a  smaller  forma- 
tion of  sugar  than  in  the  same  variety 
growing  much  in  the  sun  or  toward  the 
south  j  and  it  can  be  easily  understood 
that  the  seed  of  that  fruit  which  is  itself 
least  capable  of  forming  saccharine  se- 


292 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


cretions  will  acquire  from  its  parent  a 
less  power  of  the  same  nature  than  if 
it  had  been  formed  within  a  fruit  in 
which  the  saccharine  principle  abound- 
ed. It  should  therefore  be  always  an 
object  with  a  fruit-raiser,  in  selecting  a 
variety  to  become  the  parent  of  a  new 
sort,  to  stimulate  that  variety  by  every 
means  in  his  power  to  produce  the  lar- 
gest and  the  most  fully  ripened  fruit  it 
is  capable  of  bearing.  The  importance 
of  doing  this  is  well  known  in  regard  to 
Melons  and  Cucumbers,  and  also  in 
preserving  fugitive  varieties  of  flowers; 
but  it  is  not  so  generally  practiced  in 
raising  fruit-trees  as  it  ought  to  be. 

We  will  now  say  a  few  words  on  what 
is  called  cross-fertilization,  which  is  an- 
other mode  to ,*friginate  varieties  as  dis- 
tinguished from  raising  them  from  the 
seed. 

The  power  of  procuring  intermediate 
varieties  by  the  intermixture  of  the  pol- 
len and  stigma  of  two  different  parents, 
most  deserves  consideration.  We  all 
know  that  hybrid  plants  are  constantly 
produced  in  every  garden,  and  that  im- 
provements of  the  most  remarkable 
kind  are  yearly  occurring  in  conse- 
quence. Cross-fertilization  is  effected 
by  the  action  of  the  pollen  of  one  plant 
upon  the  stigma  of  another.  The  nat- 
ure of  this  action  is  highly  curious. 
Pollen  consists  of  extremely  minute 
hollow  balls  or  bodies;  their  cavity  is 
filled  with  fluid,  in  which  swim  particles 
of  a  figure  varying  from  spherical  to  ob- 
long, and  having  apparently  a  spontan- 
eous action.  The  stigma  is  composed 
of  very  lax  tissue,  the  intercellular  pas- 
sages of  which  have  a  greater  diameter 
than  the  moving  particles  of  the  pollen. 
When  a  grain  of  pollen  comes  in  con- 
tact with  the  stigma,  it  bursts  and  dis- 
charges its  contents  among  the  lax  tis- 
sue upon  which  it  has  fallen.  The  mov- 
ing particles  descend  through  the  tissue 


of  the  style,  until  one,  and  sometimes 
more  of  them  finds  the  way  by  routes 
specially  destined  by  nature  for  this 
service,  into  a  little  opening  in  the  in- ' 
teguments  of  the  ovalum  or  young 
seed.  Once  deposited  there,  the  par- 
ticle swells,  increases  gradually  in  size, 
separates  into  radicle  and  cotyledons, 
and  finally  becomes  the  embryo — that 
part  which  is  to  give  birth,  when  the 
seed  is  sown,  to  a  new  individual. 

Such  being  the  mode  in  which  the 
pollen  influences  .the  stigma,  and  subse- 
quently the  seed,  a  practical  consequence 
of  great  importance  necessarily  follows, 
viz. :  that  in  all  cases  of  cross-fertiliza- 
tion the  new  variety  will  take  chiefly 
after  its  polleniferous  or  male  parent; 
and  that  at  the  same  time  it  will  acquire 
some  of  the  constitutional  peculiarities 
of  its  mother.  Thus,  the  male  parent 
of  the  Downton  Strawberry  was  the  Old 
Black,  the  female  a  kind  of  scarlet. 
In  Coe's  Golden  Drop  Plum,  the  father 
was  the  Yellow  Magnum  Bonum,  the 
mother  the  Green-gage;  and  in  the  El- 
ton Cherry  the  White  Heart  was  the 
male  parent,  and  the  Graffion  the  fe- 
male. The  limits  within  which  experi- 
ments of  this  kind  must  be  confined 
are,  however,  narrow.  It  seems  that 
cross-fertilization  will  not  take  place  at 
all,  or  very  rarely,  between  different 
species,  unless  these  species  are  nearly 
related  to  each  other;  and  that  the  off- 
spring of  the  two  distinct  species  is  it- 
self sterile,  or  if  it  possesses  the  power 
of  multiplying  itself  by  seed,  its  progeny 
returns  back  to  the  state  of  the  one  or 
the  other  of  its  parents.  Hence,  it  sel- 
dom or  never  has  happened  that  domes- 
ticated fruits  have  had  such  an  origin. 
We  have  no  varieties  raised  between  the 
Apple  and  the  Pear,  or  the  Quince  and 
the  latter,  or  the  Plum  and  the  Cherry, 
or  the  Gooseberry  and  the  Currant. 
On  the  other  hand,  new  varieties  ob- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


293 


tained  by  the  intermixture  of  two  pre- 
existing varieties  are  not  less  prolific, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  often  more  so 
than  either  of  their  parents.  "Witness 
the  numerous  sorts  of  Flemish  Pears 
■which  hare  been  raised  by  cross-fertili- 
zation from  bad  bearers,  within  the  last 
forty  or  fifty  years,  and  which  are  the 
most  prolific  fruit-trees  with  which  or- 
chardists  are  acquainted.  Witness  also 
Win.  Knight's  Cherries,  raised  between 
the  May  Duke  and  the  Graffion,  and 
the  Coe's  Plum  already  mentioned. 

It  is,  therefore,  to  the  intermixture  of 
the  most  valuable  existing  varieties  of 
fruit  that  cultivators  should  trust  for 
the  amelioration  of  their  stock.  By 
this  operation,  the  Pears  that  are  in  eat- 
ing in  the  spring  have  been  rendered  as 
delicious  and  as  fertile  as  those  of  the 
autumn;  and  there  is  no  apparent  rea- 
son why  those  very  early  but  worthless 
sorts,  such  as  the  Muscat  Robert,  which 
usher  in  the  season  of  Pears,  should  not 
be  brought  to  a  similar  state  of  perfec- 
tion. 

There  is  no  kind  of  fruit,  however 
delicious,  that  may  not  be  deteriorated, 
or  however  worthless,  that  may  not  be- 
come ameliorated,  by  particular  modes 
of  management;  so  that  after  a  given 
variety  shall  have  been  created,  its  mer- 
its may  still  be  either  elicited  or  destroy- 
ed by  the  orchardists. 

The  high  price  of  fruits  this  season  is 
something  unprecedented,  if  we  except 
the  time  when  orchards  were  scarce. 
The  early  reports  of  prospects  for  short 
crops  were  not  overdrawn.  Even  the 
Blackberries  that  bloomed  after  the 
spring  frosts  are  very  short  indeed. 
Several  patches  near  San  Jose  have 
failed  entirely.  Others  have  not  pro- 
duced one-tenth  of  a  crop.  For  in- 
stance, Mr.  Bird's  eight  acres,  that  pro- 
duced seventy  chests  per  day  last  year 
for  weeks  together,  is  yielding  only  five 


chests  per  day  this  season.  The  San 
Jose  Canning  Factory  contracted  for  all 
that  several  vineyards  produce  at  six 
and  seven  cents.  Last  year  they  got 
all  they  wanted  for  two  cents.  The 
crop  is  so  short  that  dealers  have  to  pay 
nine  cents  by  the  chest,  and  many  or- 
ders from  a  distance  can  not  be  filled. 
The  local  demand  is  greater  than  the 
supply.  As  to  other  fruits  the  San 
Francisco  markets  govern  others,  and 
much  of  the  fruit  used  in  San  Jose  is 
shipped  from  a  distance.  On  an  aver- 
age, it  sells  for  less  in  San  Francisco 
than  in  San  Jose,  notwithstanding  that 
San  Jose  is  one  of  the  finest  fruit-grow- 
ing districts  in  the  State. 

In  the  first  week  in  August  there  was 
no  change  in  the  markets  worthy  of 
note.  Fruit  and  vegetables  were  plen- 
tiful, and  in  prime  condition.  A  great 
variety  of  Plums  were  in  season,  and 
the  range  for  all  kinds  was  from  8c.  to 
15c.  per  lb.  Nearly  all  descriptions  of 
Grapes  were  obtainable,  natives  selling 
at  5c.  per  lb.,  and  fancy  kinds  at  10c. 
to  15c.  Raspberries  were  dull  at  30c. 
to  35c,  and  so  were  Blackberries  at  10c. 
to  12^c  Pomegranates  were  in  good 
supply  and  cheap,  retailing  at  5c.  to 
10c.  each.  Nectarines  were  quoted  at 
12c.  to  15c.  per  lb.,  and  Crab-apples  at 
10c.  German  Prunes  were  steady  at 
15c,  and  Peaches  at  6c  to  12Jc.  Cur- 
rants were  inactive  at  12ic 

Green  Lima  Beans  retailed  at  6c  to 
8c  per  lb.;  dry  do.,  at  15c  We  quote 
Summer  Squash  at  5c  to  6c  per  lb., 
and  Winter  do  at  2c  to  4c  Egg  Plant 
was  firm  at  5c  to  6c;  Okra  at  15c; 
Sweet  Potatoes  at  6c ;  Chili  Peppers  at 
15c;  Shell  Beans  at  5c  Green  Corn 
was  quotable  at  10c  to  .25c  per  dozen, 
a  very  fair  quality  to  be  had  for  the 
former  figure .  Canteloup  es  and  Water- 
melons were  plentiful  at  10c  to  25c 
each.     Cucumbers  ranged  from  10c  to 


294 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICTJLTUKIST. 


15c.  per  dozen  for  green,  to   50c.    for 
ripe  yellow. 

One  of  the  very  best  Potatoes  we 
have,  either  for  cultivation  or  market, 
is  the  Early  Kose.  It  is  of  fine  shape 
and  mealy,  very  prolific,  and  good  for 
table  use.  Another  very  fine  Potato 
that  comes  to  our  market  is  known  as 
the  Bodega  of  Humboldt  County,  where 
they  are  grown  extensively;  but  within 
the  last  two  years  they  have  been  almost 
entirely  destroyed  by  the  blight,  which 
has  also  been  so  prevalent  immediately 
around  this  city.  It  will  probably  be 
necessary  to  change  our  variety  of  Po- 
tatoes for  foreign  sorts. 

About  the  13th  of  last  month  (Au- 
gust) Plums  were  in  great  variety  and 
plentiful.  Green-gages  were  quoted  at 
5c.  to  6c.  per  lb. ;  Damsons,  6c.  to  8c. ; 
Peach  Plums,  10c;  Egg  do.,  6ctol2Jc; 
German  Prunes,  10c.  to  12Jc  Following 
were  the  quotations  for  Grapes:  Black 
Hamburg,  Black  Malvoisie,  and  Rose  of 
Peru,  10c;  Sweetwater,  Natives,  and 
Mission,  6c  to  8c;  Muscat  of  Alexan- 
dria, 10  to  12ijc  Pomegranates  retail- 
ed at  50c  per  doz.  Quinces  are  in  the 
market  and  retail  at  10c  to  12|c  per  lb. 
Raspberries  were  quoted  at  30c,  and 
Blackberries  at  12Jc  Strawberries  were 
in  limited  supply  and  moderate  demand 
at  20c  Currants  continued  to  hold  out 
at  6c  to  12|c  Nectarines  were  down  to 
8  to  10c  Peaches  were  firm  at  last 
week's  prices — 6c  to  12|c  The  supply 
of  Crab-apples  was  light  at  8c  A  few 
Australian  Oranges  were  retailed  during 
the  week  at  12|c  each.  Australian 
Lemons  were  also  in  the  market,  and 
were  offered  at  $1  per  dozen. 

Sweet  Potatoes  were  arriving  freely 
and  prices  were  down  to  4c  and  6c  per 
lb.  Egg  Plant  was  a  trifle  firmer  than  it 
had  been  for  some  time,  being  quoted 
at  6c  to  8c  Okra  was  quoted  at  15c ; 
Chile  Peppers  at    15c;    Green    Lima 


Beans  at  6c  to  8c,  and  dry  do.  at  15c 
Green  Com  was  very  plentiful,  and  re- 
markably cheap,  the  range  being  10c  to 
25c  per  dozen.  Summer  Squash  was 
steady  at  5c  to  6c ,  and  "Winter  do.  at  2c 
to  4c  per  lb.  Artichokes  retailed  at  50c 
per  dozen.  Cantaloupes,  Watermelons, 
and  Cucumbers  were  unchanged. 

On  the  27th  of  August  the  business 
in  the  retail  market  was  much  affected 
by  the  money  panic  and  derangements. 
Buyers  were  fewer  at  the  stalls,  and 
a  comparatively  small  number  of  pur- 
chases were  made.  Prices  were  un- 
changed, and  there  was  but  little  differ- 
ence in  the  varieties  of  fruit  and  vegeta- 
bles offered.  Currants,  Raspberries, 
Strawberries,  Crab-apples,  and  some  oth- 
er fruits  had  nearly  disappeared.  We 
have  nothing  new  to  come  in  if  we  ex- 
cept a  few  rare  varieties  of  fruits  al- 
ready in.  Grapes  are  at  the  head  of 
the  list,  and  will  continue  so  until  the 
season  closes.  There  was  a  slight  de- 
preciation in  the  prices  of  Black  Ham- 
burg, Black  Malvoisie,  and  Rose  of  Pe- 
ru, which  retailed  at  6c  to  8c  per  lb. ; 
in  Muscat  of  Alexandria,  10c;  and  in 
Natives,  Mission,  and  Sweetwater,  at 
4c  to  5c ;  Elame  Tokays,  held  their  own 
at  15c 

Blackberries  continued  to  be  quoted 
at  12|c;  Nectarines,  at  5c  to  6c; 
Peaches,  at  6c.  to  12Jc;  Quinces  at 
10c  to  12^c  Seckel  Pears  were  in  the 
market  in  good  supply  at  6c ,  and  Bart- 
letts  at  the  same  price.  Bellnowers  had 
been  coming  in  during  the  week,  but 
these  were  rather  green  yet  to  make 
good  eating.  Cocoanuts  were  quoted 
at  15c  to  20c. 

Winter  Squash  was  very  abundant 
and  it  was  offered  freely  at  lc  to  2c 
per  lb.  Summer  Squash  was  firm  at 
5c.  to  6c.  Cucumbers  were  plentiful 
at  last  quoted  prices.  Rhubarb  sold  at 
6c;  Garlic  sells  at  15c. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


295 


The  latest  arrival  in  our  markets  is 
some  good  and  rather  plentiful  lots  of 
Strawberries  —  about  the  fourth  crop. 
They  sell  readily  at  the  rate  of  25c.  to 
30c.  a  pound. 

Ornamental  Gourds,  styled  erroneous- 
ly "Pomegranates," retailed  at 50c.  per 
dozen.  The  true  Pomegranate  does  not 
find  its  way  into  market  until  a  much 
later  date  in  the  season.  The  variety 
of  Pears  in  the  market  is  becoming 
large  for  this  coast,  such  as  the  Flem- 
ish Beauty,  Seckel,  Winkfield,  etc. 
Their  size  compared  to  the  eastern  of 
the  same  kinds  is  great  deal  larger, 
and  their  complexions  generally  finer. 
We  observe  this  season  very  few  sxDeci- 
mens  of  the  true  Green-gage  Plum  in 
market.  It  is  the  king  of  all  plums  in 
rich  sweet  qualities  and  in  juiciness. 
There  have  been,  also,  very  few  white 
Nectarines.  A  great  deal  of  much  finer 
varieties  of  fruits  than  we  now  possess 
could  be  cultivated  by  orchardists,  if 
they  only  had  the  ambition  to  excel, 
and  followed  up  the  good  motto — "Ex- 
celsior." 

m  t  m 

Vekbena  Pulchella. — A  dwarf-grow- 
ing species  with  numerous  trusses  of 
small  striped  flowers,  is  used  by  Mr. 
Record  at  Vintner's  Park,  Maidstone, 
as  an  edging  to  beds  of  flowers  on  the 
terrace  garden,  and  with  charming  ef- 
fects. The  pretty  Nierembergia  gracilis 
is  is  used  in  the  same  way,  and  is  most 
effective,  being  so  free  of  bloom  and  so 
continuous.  Sedum  acre  elegans,  with 
its  variegation  of  silver-gray  and  creamy 
white,  is  employed  for  paneling  pur- 
poses in  beds  of  low-growing  succulents; 
and  notwithstanding  the  dry  weather 
that  preceded  the  recent  rains,  and  the 
exposed  position  of  the  terrace  garden, 
it  was  most  effective,  keeping  its  color 
well,  and  growing  very  dense. — Gar- 
dener's Chronicle. 


(BiMUxM  $Jamw($. 


Idesia  Polycakpa. — This  fine  hardy 
plant  comes  from  Japan,  and  appears 
to  have  been  distributed  from  the  Bo- 
tanic Garden  of    St.    Petersburg.     It 
was  exhibited  in  1867  at  the  Paris  Ex- 
hibition, by  M.  Linden,  as  a  fruit-tree 
from  Japan,  and  was  afterward  put  into 
commerce  under  the  names  of  Polycar- 
pa  Maximowiezii  and  Flacourtia  Japonica. 
The   generic   name    Idesia    was   given 
to  it  by  Maximowiez,  and  is  now  adopt- 
ed by  all  botanists.     A  figure  of  it  pub- 
lished in  the  Revue  Horticole  (1872,  174) 
represents  a  specimen  bearing  only  ripe 
fruits,  sent  by  Maximowiez  to  the  Paris 
Museum,  and  which  was   described  as 
coming  from   a  cultivated  tree,   forty 
feet  high,   growing   on  the  island   of 
Niphon,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mount 
Fusi,  while  other  specimens,  probably 
wild,  bearing  only  male  flowers,  were 
from  the  forests  of  Kinosau,  in  the  isl- 
and of  Kiusiu.      Whether  or  not  it  is 
likely  to  become  a  useful  fruit-bearing 
tree  may  be  questioned,  but  there  can 
be   no  doubt  it  is  a  fine  ornamental 
plant,  and  thoroughly  hardy.    Its  trunk 
is  said   to  be  straight  and  robust,  its 
branches   spreading,   and  its  leaves  ca- 
ducous.— London  Garden. 


Ornamenting  Home. — The  greenhouse, 
flower-beds,  lawns,  drives,  ornamental 
trees  and  shrubs  receive  considerable 
attention,  but  not  as  much  as  they  de- 
serve. Remove  all  attempt  at  such 
things  from  any  place  and  its  value  is 
decreased  at  once  in  a  very  large  propor- 
tion. It  is  money  well  spent.  There 
is  no  lesson  of  more  importance  than 
to  teach  the  art  of  making  home  pleas- 
ant. This  is  one  of  the  ways  to  keep 
the  boys  and  girls  on  the  farm  and  to 
make  them  satisfied  with  their  situation. 


296 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


For  the  want  of  something  nice  many  a 
boy  lias  left  the  country  home,  and  made 
a  poor  lawyer  Or  clerk,  who  would  have 
made  a  good  successful  farmer. — Prof. 
W.  J.  Beal.  m 

How  to  Treat  Wet  Boots. — What  an 
amount  of  discomfort  wet  boots  entail, 
and  how  well  we  all  recall  the  painful 
efforts  we  have  now  and  then  made  to 
draw  on  a  pair  of  hard -baked  ones 
which  were  put  by  the  fire  over  night 
to  dry!  Once  on,  they  are  a  sort  of 
modern  stocks,  destructive  of  all  com- 
fort, and  entirely  demoralizing  to  the 
temper,  The  following  plan,  it  is  said, 
will  do  away  with  this  discomfort: 
When  the  boots  are  taken  off,  fill  them 
quite  full  with  dry  oats.  This  grain  has 
a  great  fondness  for  damp  and  will  rap- 
idly absorb  the  least  vestige  of  it  from 
the  wet  leather.  As  it  quickly  and 
comfortably  takes  up  the  moisture,  it 
swells  and  fills  the  boots  with  a  tightly 
fitting  last,  keeping  its  form  good  and 
drying  the  leather  without  hardening 
it.  In  the  morning  shake  out  the  oats 
and  hang  them  in  a  bag  near  the  fire  to 
dry,  ready  for  the  next  wet  night;  draw 
on  the  boots,  and  go  happily  about  the 
day's  work. — Scientific  American. 


Curl  in  the  Peach. — The  Gardener's 
Monthly  expresses  doubts  as  to  the  cause 
of  the  curl  in  the  Peach.  About  twenty 
years  ago  we  made  microscopic  examin- 
ations of  Peach-leaves  from  the  moment 
they  were  less  than  a  twentieth  the 
size  of  full-grown  leaves,  and  delicate, 
and  nearly  transparent,  until  they  had 
attained  maturity,  and  through  all  these 
stages  detected  the  minute  fungus  in- 
side the  entire  epidermis,  until  it  burst 
through,  and,  covering  the  outside  of 
the  leaf,  produced  strongly  developed 
curl.     The  appearance  was  quite  similar 


in  this  respect  to  the  rust  in  Wheat,  but 
the  minute  plants  less  distinct.  In  the 
Wheat-straw  a  good  microscope  shows 
the  myriad  heads  beneath  the  unbroken 
and  glassy  epidermis;  in  the  Peach- 
leaf,  the  appearance  is  more  obscure. 
Only  the  strongest  cases  of  curl  will  ex- 
hibit this  appearance  fully.  These  ob- 
servations were  published  at  the  time, 
and  occasionally  have  been  referred  to 
since. — Country  Gentleman. 


The  Eucalyptus  Globulus. — Italie,  a 
paper  published  in  Rome,  says  that 
of  three  thousand  trees  of  the  Eucalyp- 
tus globulus,  planted  at  San  Sisto 
Vecchia  by  the  municipal  government, 
none  are  in  a  flourishing  condition  ;  and 
of  all  those  planted  along  the  line  of 
the  railroad  between  Rome  and  Naples, 
only  those  near  Naples  are  living.  It 
is  almost  certain,  says  Italie,  Eucalyptus 
globulus  will  not  grow  in  a  temperature 
below  27  cleg.  Fahrenheit. 


METEOROLOGICAL    BECOED, 

Fob  the  Month  ending  August  31,  1875. 

(Prepared  for  The  Horticulturist  by  Thos.  Tennxnt, 
Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No. 
423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office) . 

BAEOMETEE. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.03  in. 

do  12m 30.04 

do  3  P.  M 30.03 

do  6  P.  m 30.02 

Highest  point  on  the  5th,  at  3  p.  m 30.18 

Lowest  point  on  the  24th,  at  3  and  6p,m 29.92 

THEBMOMETEB. 
(  With  north  exposure  and  free  from  reflected  heat.) 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 62° 

do  12  m 65rj 

do  3  P.  M 64° 

do  6  p.  m 59° 

Highest  point  on  the  8th,  at  12  m 74° 

Lowest  point  on  the  17th  and  18th,  at  6  p.  m 54° 

SELF  -  EEGISTEEING    THEBMOMETEB . 

JHean  height  during  the  night 51° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  29th 56° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  21st 47° 

WINDS. 
Prevailing  wind,  west. 

WEATHEB. 
Clear  on  5  days;  cloudy  all  day  on  4  days;  the  remain- 
der of  the  month,  cloudy  mornings,  with  clear  weather 
and  sea  breeze  in  the  afternoons,  and  fdggy  evenings. 


C£B«&1  IS  f&€8SdJtl!. 


[California  Horticulturist  and  Floral  Magazine.] 


THE 


AND   FLORAL  MAGAZINE. 


Vol.  V.  SAN  FRANCISCO,  OCTOBER,   1875.  No.  10. 


THE  CHINESE  YAM,  OE  DIOSCOEEA  BA- 
TATAS-ITS CULTIVATION  AND 
COOKERY. 

BT  E.   J.   HOOPEE. 

It  has  been  many  years  since  this  es- 
culent was  introduced  into  this  coun- 
try. When  its  discovery  was  announ- 
ced, it  created  some  excitement.  To  ma- 
ny even  now  it  is  entirely  unknown. 
It  was  cultivated  by  some  persons  years 
ago,  but  it  was  considered  almost  with- 
out, an  exception  a  complete  failure. 
One  reason  why  it  did  not  generally 
succeed,  I  believe,  was,  that  its  very 
long  roots  penetrated  badeeply  into  any 
kind  of  ground  that  it  was  much  of  a 
task  to  dig  out  the  tubers  at  their  ends, 
and  it  required  so  deeply  worked  and 
cultivated  a  soil,  that  but  very  few  per- 
sons made  the  necessary  preparation  of 
it.  But  still  the  roots  would  penetrate 
a  very  hard  pan,  which  seemed  to  show 
that  it  was  not  veiy  particular  as  to 
what  kind  of  soil  it  grew  in.  Another 
cause  of  its  want  of  success  was,  for  the 
first  one  or  even  two  years  the  tubers 
sent  out  were  so  small  that  people  were 
disappointed  in  it  and  thus  gave  it  up 
as  a  failure.  But  those  who  persevered 
with  it  for  several  years,  found  that  the 

Vol.  V— 29. 


tubers  increased  much  in  size  each  year. 
They  will  penetrate  the  earth  two  or 
more  feet,  according  to  the  number  of 
years  they  are  left  to  grow,  and  will 
weigh  several  pounds.  For  the  best 
results,  a  very  deep,  loose,  sandy  soil 
should  be  selected,  but  they  will  grow 
in  almost  any  ground.  Enough  of  the 
small  tubers  can  be  planted  to  support 
a  family  for  years,  each  year  bringing 
larger  yams.  There  is  nothing  difficult 
in  their  culture.  The  tubers  are  simply 
planted  an  inch  and  a  half  below  the 
surface  six  or  eight  inches  apart,  and  in 
rows  one  and  a  half  or  two  feet  apart. 
They  should  be  cultivated,  of  course,  to 
keep  the  weeds  down,  and  they  may  be 
dug  any  time  in  the  year,  as  they  are 
suitable  for  eating  any  time  after  the 
second  year's  growth.  William  Cruzan, 
a  farmer  in  Indiana,  writing  to  the 
Cincinnati  Times  concerning  them,  states 
that  "everything  considered,  he  thinks 
they  are  just  what  all  should  have  grow- 
ing to  supply  their  tables  when  other 
vegetables  are  scarce."  This  to  be  sure 
will  hardly  apply  to  California,  which 
rejoices  in  many  vegetables  all  the  year 
round,  but  as  everything  succeeds  so 
well  here,  the  Batatas  would  most  like- 
ly, be  extra  fine  in  our  excellent  climate 


298 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


and  soil — at  all  events  it  would  be  in- 
teresting to  observe  the  results  of  a  good 
trial  of  it  here,  and  it  would  probably 
produce  large  crops.  There  is,  how- 
ever, one  objection  advanced  by  those 
who  have  thoroughly  tried  it,  that  it  has 
to  be  dug  out,  as  the  large  end  grows 
right  down  so  deep.  But  some  have 
said  that  they  would  prefer  this  rather 
laborious  digging  of  them  out  a  great 
depth,  than  do  without  them.  Some 
who  have  succeeded  with  them,  think 
they  are  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  the 
finest  Potato,  either  baked,  steamed,  or 
boiled,  and  may  be  put  into  the  water 
cold,  or  boiling,  just  the  same  as  a  Po- 
tato, and  most  persons  do  not  know  the 
difference  when  cooked,  if  they  are  not 
told.  Boiling  is  the  most  simple  meth- 
od. The  only  question  seems  to  be, 
whether  they  will  pay  for.  growing. 
This  may  be  rather  expensive,  on  ac- 
count of  the  very  deep  trenching  re- 
quisite. No  insect  ever  discovered  in- 
jures them,  and  drought  may  be  guard- 
ed against  by  irrigation,  if  necessary. 
They  do  not  blight,  and  keep  well.  They 
were  once  advertised  and  sold  by  Wm. 
Prince  of  New  York,  and  probably  his 
successor  has  them  still :  at  any  rate  it 
is  probable  that  they  can  yet  be  obtain- 
ed East. 


THE  OEIGIN  OF  NEW  PLANTS. 

BY   THOMAS   MEEHAN. 

In  any  theory  of  evolution  morphol- 
ogy must  play  an  essential  part.  In 
the  transformation  of  a  leaf- blade  to 
the  various  organs  of  a  plant  the  change 
is  sometimes  gradual — as  in  the  passage 
from  leaves  to  bracts  in  some  orders,  or 
from  sepals  to  petals,  petals  to  stamens, 
or  stamens  to  pistils  in  others — but  the 
cases  where  the  change  is  from  one 
form   of   structure  to  another  of  very 


different  character  are  by  no  means  rare. 
If  it  can  be  proved  that  change  with 
gradual  modification  and  change  by  the 
sudden  appearance  of  a  distinct  form 
are  both  good  morphological  laws  in 
plant  life,  there  is  no  reason  why  both 
laws  may  not  operate  in  any  scheme  in 
which  morphology  is  called  to  act. 
How  suddenly  the  parts  often  change 
is  well  illustrated  in  most  coniferous 
plants.  In  the  Pinus,  on  the  first  push- 
ing of  the  axis  from  the  cotyledonous 
condition  of  the  plant,  flat  leaves  are  de- 
veloped, often  an  inch  or  more  in 
length.  After  some  time  these  leaves 
are  suddenly  arrested,  and  the  axillary 
buds  as  suddenly  develop  into  fascicles, 
or  needles,  as  they  are  popularly  called. 
So,  when  the  plant  reaches  its  floral 
condition,  the  transformation  of  leaf 
and  stem  into  the  various  parts  which 
constitute  a  cone  comes  on  with  won- 
derful suddenness.  The  leaf  which  we 
saw  so  suddenly  arrested  in  early  life 
now  becomes  a  bract,  the  fasciculi  com- 
bine and  form  the  scale,  and  the  axis 
suddenly  ceases  to  elongate  and  gives 
form  to  the  whole.  The  one  in  search 
of  missing  links  would  be  sadly  puz- 
zled here. 

This  sudden  change  of  f  olial  organs  to 
organs  of  inflorescence  is  common.  In 
the  change  of  one  portion  of  a  leaf 
structure  to  another,  Magnolia  and  Li- 
riodendron  afford  an  interesting  exam- 
ple. In  many  plants  the  regular  leaf- 
blade  is  metamorphosed  and  forms  the 
petal;  but  in  these,  as  soon  as  the 
plant  reaches  its  flowering  stage,  the 
leaf-blade  is  suddenly  and  entirely  ar- 
rested in  the  formation  of  the  petals, 
and  the  stipules  are  as  suddenly  de- 
veloped. The  petals  are  in  fact  high- 
ly developed  and  transformed  stipules, 
and  all  without  the  slightest  trace  of 
gradual  modification.  So,  in  sexual 
transformations  the  modifications  are  by 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICULTURIST. 


299 


no  means  always  gradual.  One  who  had 
never  seen  Maize  growing  would  hardly 
believe  the  tassel  and  ear  were  from  one 
plant,  yet  they  are  formed  morphologi- 
cally on  the  same  plan;  and  once  in  a 
while  we  find  male  flowers  gradually 
merging  into  females  and  females  to 
males,  in  the  respective  domain'of  each, 
but  this  is  the  great  exception  to  the 
general  rule.  Now  we  come  to  varia- 
tions from  specific  form,  and  here  I 
find  great  changes  with  no  transitional 
form  between.  I  have  a  Halesia,  from 
seed  of  Halesia  tetraptera,  which  anyone' 
might  be  pardoned  for  placing  in  a  new 
genus.  It  is  much  farther  removed 
from  its  parent  than  is  H.  diptera.  The 
corolla  is  not  drawn  up  into  a  funnel- 
like tube  as  in  the  original,  but  is  cup- 
ular  and  barely  the  length  of  the  sta- 
mens. The  leaves  are  broadly  ovate 
and  rugose,  and  no  one  at  first  glance 
would  take  it  for  a  Halesia.  "When  I 
first  saw  it  in  the  seed-bed  I  supposed  it 
to  be  a  young  Apple-tree. 

I  have  on  my  grounds  large  quanti- 
ties of  Yucca  filamentosa.  Hundreds  of 
plants  throw  up  their  flower-spikes  and 
open  their  first  blossoms  within  twenty- 
four  hours  of  each  other.  But  some 
years  ago  one  struck  off  to  hav£  a  more 
branching  panicle  and  to  open  its  flow- 
ers two  weeks  before  the  others,  which 
characters  remain  and  are  continued  in 
the  progeny.  This  two  weeks  was  not 
gained  gradually,  day  by  day,  through 
successive  generations,  but  in  one  great 
leap.  So  with  raising  Peaches  or  oth- 
er varieties  of  fruit.  Though  the  pro- 
geny usually  take  to  the  general  habits 
of  the  parents,  there  will  be,  once  in  a 
while,  very  late  varieties  from  seeds  of 
early  ones,  and  very  early  from  late 
kinds.  In  Delaware  and  New  Jersey 
Azalea  viscosa  varies  to  a  form  having 
glaucous  saliciform  leaves.  I  have 
not  raised  these  up  from  the  seeds,  but 


I  have  seen  an  extreme  form,  with 
leaves  looking  rather  like  the  English 
Woodbine  than  an  ordinary  Azalea  visco- 
sa, growing  under  ordinary  circumstan- 
ces, which  left  no  doubt  on  my  mind 
that  it  sprung  without  any  intermediate 
links  from  the  other  form.  Glyptostro- 
bus  is  another  remarkable  case.  I  ex- 
hibited branches  of  a  tree  from  seed  of 
Taxodium  distichum  and  branches  from 
an  acknowledged  Glyptostrobuspendulus, 
and  no  one  could  separate  them.  Here 
is  a  leap  at  once  to  a  new  genus.  More- 
over, I  have  a  Thuja  growing,  which 
the  highest  authorities  insist  is  a  Retino- 
spora,  but  which  I  know  was  raised  di- 
rect from  the  Thuja  occidentalis,  without 
any  intermediate  parent  whatever.  Some 
genera  seem  very  variable.  Take  our 
common  Ox-eye  Daisy  for  instance; 
and  then,  say  in  Staphyllea,  we  may  ex- 
amine hundreds  of  plants  without  any 
apparent  variation. 

But  in  the  variable  genera  it  is  a  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  these  variations 
are  by  gradual  modifications,  though 
one  can  often  place  them  so  as  to  ap- 
pear like  gradually  approaching  links.  , 
It  is  wonderful  how  nany  variations 
there  are  in  the  common  Ox-eye  Daisy. 
I  have  studied  them  closely  for  years, 
and  find  that  the  most  divergent  forms 
are  often  parent  and  child.  I  do  not 
know  anything  that  more  exactly  re- 
peats itself  than  Glycine  frutescens.  Ev- 
ery leaf  is  exactly  ovate,  with  an  up- 
ward turn  from  the  mid-rib;  but  in  its 
variety  known  in  gardens  as  G.  mag- 
nifica,  the  leaves  are  regularly  attenuat- 
ed and  reflexed,  and  the  whole  manner 
so  different  that  some  have  supposed 
it  a  distinct  species  with  the  name  as 
above.  Not  only  do  strikingly  distinct 
forms  come  suddenly  into  existence,  but 
once  born  they  reproduce  themselves 
from  seed,  and  act  in  every  way  as  ac- 
knowledged species.     The  Peach  in  its 


300 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


general  form  has  its  branches  at  a  very 
acute  angle  upwards.  I  never  saw  a 
plant  with  branches  approaching  a  right 
angle;  but  some  thirty  years  ago  one 
came  into  existence  with  a  strong  angle 
downwards,  a  weeping  variety,  and 
seeds  of  this  reproduce  this  form  Exact- 
ly in  every  respect.  So  with  color. 
The  Peach  is  of  a  uniform  green  —  no 
tendency  to  vary  its  shade  —  but,  ten 
years  ago,  a  deep  blood  -  leaved  varie- 
ty appeared.  The  deep  blood -leaved 
Peach  is  also  a  rapid  jump  from  the 
green,  and  reproduces  the  blood-leaved 
character  from  seeds.  The  Siberian 
Arbor-vitse  is  another  great  leap  from 
the  Thuja  occidentals,  and  reproduces 
itself  from  seeds,  as  do  all  the  striking 
forms  in  which  this  species  abounds. 

Indeed,  I  think  I  may  close  this 
branch  of  my  subject  by  the  statement 
that,  in  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  of 
experience  among  living  plants,  I  have 
rarely  known  any  striking  form  to  have 
originated  by  gradual  modifications,  but 
always  by  one  grand  leap.  The  slight 
changes  are  generally  in  efforts  back- 
wards, as  when  we  sow  Purple  Beech 
seed  some  few  are  a  trifle  paler  than 
their  parents.  There  is  little  of  this  hes- 
itation in  the  forward  leap.  But  even 
reversions  are  not  always  gradual.  Some 
years  ago  the  common  Babylonian  Wil- 
low sent  out  branches  suddenly  which 
bore  singular  curved  leaves,  just  as  the 
Nectarine  is  said  to  have  suddenly 
sprung  from  the  Peach.  The  cuttings 
grew  and  maintained  the  character.  It 
is  known  as  Salix  Babylonica  annularis. 
A  few  years  ago  I  saw  a  tree,  perhaps 
twenty-five  years  old,  push  out  the  reg- 
ular Weeping  Willow  leaves.  This  fact 
in  regard  to  the  Willow  suggests  anoth- 
er great  principle.  Forms  are  not  only 
called  into  existence  suddenly,  widely 
different  from  parents,  and  can  repro- 
duce  themselves  from  seed,    but  they 


come  into  existence  without  seed  agen- 
cy, and  the  same  or  similar  form  in 
widely  separated  localities,  and  not  all 
necessarily  by  seed  from  one  individual. 
I  have  had  sent  me  from  five  different 
localities  flowers  of  Viola  pedata,  in 
which  the  two  upper  petals  were  of  the 
beautiful  maroon  characteristic  of  the 
Pansy. 

Again,  a  whole  change  of  character 
will  occur  suddenly  in  many  individuals 
through  a  large  extent  of  country.  This 
season,  in  our  part  of  the  world  at 
least,  half  the  leaves  of  the  Lirioden- 
dron  are  from  five  to  seven  lobed,  when, 
as  it  is  well  known,  the  three  -  lobed 
character  has  been  almost  specific  in 
former  years.  We  are  accustomed  to 
say  about  these  changes  that  they  are 
"caused  by  climate;"  but  this  expres- 
sion proves  nothing.  We  have  in  Penn- 
sylvania a  form  of  Viola  cucullata,  usual- 
ly growing  in  wet  places,  which  always 
caiises  the  breast  of  the  young  botanist 
to  thrill  with  the  idea  that  he  has  a  new 
species.  The  paler  color  and  more  del- 
icate growth,  when  the  plants  are  seen 
in  the  aggregate,  are  very  striking. 
But  when  the  plants  and  flowers  are 
analyzed,  no  difference  is  found  that  can 
be  described  in  words. 

A  review  of  the  facts  I  have  presented 
shows,  I  believe,  the  following  truths: 
1.  Morphological  changes  in  individual 
plants  are  not  always  by  gradual  modi- 
fications. 2.  Variations  from  specific 
forms  follow  the  same  law.  3.  Varia- 
tions are  often  sudden,  and  of  such  de- 
cided character  as  to  be  deemed  gene- 
ric. 4.  These  sudden  formations  j>er- 
petuate  themselves  and  act  in  all  respects 
the  same  as  forms  which  spring  through 
gradual  modifications.  5.  Variations 
of  similar  character  occur  in  widely 
separated  locations.  6.  Variations  oc- 
cur in  communities  of  plants  simulta- 
neously, by  causes  affecting  nutrition, 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


301 


and  perhaps  by  other  causes.  Arguing 
from  these  facts,  new  and  widely  distinct 
species  may  be  suddenly  evolved  from 
pre-existing  forms  without  the  interven- 
tion of  connecting  links. 


TACSONIA. 


BY   F.    A.    MXLLEB. 


The  Tacsonia  is  closely  related  to  the 
Passiflora  in  general  habit  as  well  as  in 
the  construction  of  the  flower.  Of  all 
the  climbing  plants  at  present  under 
cultivation  on  this  coast,  the  Tacsonias 
ought  to  rank  foremost  for  various  rea- 
sons. First  of  all,  they  seem  to  be 
hardy  with  us.  I  have  cultivated  them 
as  greenhouse  plants  during  the  past 
year,  but  find  that  they  grow  entirely 
too  rank  and  weak.  A  few  months  ago 
I  gave  them  a  place  outside,  and  I  find 
that  this  is  just  the  position  for  them, 
and  am  convinced  that  they  will  do  well 
wherever  the  common  Passion-vine  can 
be  cultivated.  The  foliage  is  rich  and 
elegant,  and,  being  evergreen,  makes 
an  excellent  appearance  at  all  seasons 
of  the  year, 

A  number  of  varieties  have  been  in- 
troduced of  late,  and  some  of  them  are 
described  as  producing  magnificent 
flowers.  During  the  past  year  I  have 
cultivated  five  varieties  principally:  T. 
von  Volsemi,  T.  Buchanani,  T.  manicata, 
T.  splendens,  and  T.  floribunda.  During 
this  summer  T.  von  Volsemi  has  flowered 
finely;  its  large  crimson  flowers  were 
admired  by  everyone  who  saw  them. 
T.  splendens  is  in  bloom  at  the  present 
time  in  the  large  dome  at  Woodward's 
Gardens,  and  its  very  bright  crimson 
color  is  generally  admired.  Tacsonia 
Buchanani  bears  a  brilliant  orange-scar- 
let flower,  and  promises  to  do  as  well 
as  those  already  named. 

The  propagation  of    Tacsonias  has 


been  slow  work  with  us,  and  we  have 
barely  succeeded  in  rooting  one  cutting 
out  of  twenty.  Of  late,  however,  we 
have  undertaken  to  grow  young  plants 
from  root -cuttings,  and  this  method 
seems  to  be  much  more  satisfactory. 
To  grow  plants  from  root-cuttings  re- 
quires, of  course,  strong  roots  and  a 
gentle  bottom  heat. 

We  have  now  a  nice  little  stock  of 
the  different  varieties  named.  There 
are  some  varieties  which  may  prove  less 
hardy,  and  which  may  succeed  better 
under  glass;  but  thoee  named  above 
certainly  thrive  luxuriantly  in  the  open 

air. 

<, 

FERN   CULTUEE. 

Few  things  so  easily  obtainable  as 
Ferns  give  as  much  general  satisfac- 
tion. Their  delicate  green  and  beauti- 
ful symmetry  constantly  delight  the 
eye,  giving  rise  to  new  and  gentle 
thoughts,  while  the  opening  of  the 
Fern  from  its  little  brown  frond  is  a 
never-failing  source  of  wonder  and  de- 
light. The  tiny  bolls  uncurl  so  grace- 
fully, stretching  out  toward  the  light, 
with  an  appealing  gesture  almost  hu- 
man in  its  influence.  One  has  only  to 
spend  a  few  hours  among  the  canyons  of 
Oakland  or  Saucelito,  and  he  will  come 
home  laden  with  enough  of  three  or 
four  of  the  common  varieties  of  Fern  to 
render  his  home  beautiful  for  a  year 
or  more.  Ferns  should  be  kept  in  a 
warm,  Light  place,  out  of  reach  of  the 
direct  rays  of  the  sun.  They  require 
the  light  and  warmth,  but  not  the  force 
of  the  sun.  In  their  native  homes  they 
are  shielded  from  his  ardor  by  the  over- 
hanging boughs  and  clustering  leaves 
of  the  trees.  A  window  is  very  favora- 
ble to  the  growth  and  development  of 
Ferns.  In  whatever  position  they  are 
placed  they  almost  invariably  thrive  if 


302 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


the  soil  be  kept  in  a  uniformly  moist 
condition — not  drenched  one  day  and 
neglected  for  three  or  four.  The  sensi- 
tive Fern  can  never  stand  such  treat- 
ment as  this. 

Ferns,  when  taken  from  their  native 
soil,  often  die  down,  and  people  throw 
them  out,  thinking  them  dead.  But 
this  is  a  mistake;  the  roots  are  still 
alive  and  will  come  up  fresh  and  green 
again  if  the  ground  be  kept  moist.  A 
white  fungus  often  appears  upon  the 
,  Fern,  containing  a  species  of  animalcu- 
lse,  which  eventually  destroys  the  leaf 
on  which  it  appears.  It  bears  a  strong 
resemblance  to  white  mold  and  is  often 
mistaken  for  it.  Ferns  should  be  look- 
ed over  at  least  once  in  two  days  and 
this  mold  removed  as  fast  as  it  appears, 
and  there  will  be  no  trouble  in  keeping 
the  plants  in  a  healthy  condition.  Ma- 
ny people  have  the  idea  that  Ferns  will 
not  grow  unless  they  are  under  glass. 
This  is  a  wrong  idea;  and  many  who 
have  deprived  themselves  of  the  pleas- 
ure of  having  the  plants  because  of  the 
expense  of  a  fernery,  will  be  pleased  to 
know  that  we  have  successfully  cultivat- 
ed Ferns  for  the  past  five  years,  and 
have  never  yet  used  a  pane  of  glass. 
Ferns  grown  under  glass  have  an  un- 
naturally delicate  texture  and  a  sickly 
color,  while  those  grown  in  the  open 
air  are  vigorous  and  hardy. 

Let  children  cultivate  house -plants, 
if  they  can  not  have  a  little  garden-plat 
of  their  own.  It  will  serve  to  interest 
them  and  take  their  minds  from  less  in- 
nocent pleasures,  at  the  same  time  mak- 
ing them  more  childlike  in  manner  dur- 
ing that  short  period  allowed  for  child- 
hood in  this  fast  age  of  ours.  If  the 
peculiarities  of  each  genus  are  pointed 
out  from  time  to  time  in  an  interesting 
way,  new  trains  of  thought  will  be  open- 
ed and  the  mind  constantly  enlarged 
and   enriched.      Children,  like  Ferns, 


require  a  uniform  mode  of  treatment; 
they  are  delicate  and  require  constant 
care  and  watchfulness;  they  are  way- 
ward, and  need  to  be  brought  back  into 
place  by  a  gentle,  persevering  hand.  A 
stock  of  patience  is  needed  in  the  case 
of  both,  that  they  may  thrive  and  be- 
come in  the  one  place  green  and  beau- 
tiful, in  the  other  pure  and  high-mind- 
ed. The  varieties  of  Ferns  are  endless; 
in  this  country  alone  there  are  probably 
thirty  or  more,  and  in  the  Tosemite 
valley  I  counted  nine  varieties.  I  was 
talking  with  a  friend  who  has  twenty 
or  more  varieties  in  her  own  conserva- 
tory, and  she  told  me  that  their  name 
was  legion.  Our  California  Ferns  are 
very  beautiful,  and  so  also  are  the  French 
and  Sandwich  Island  Ferns.  Among 
the  most  beautiful  of  all  varieties  is  the 
"  Maiden's-hair."  Several  species  of  it 
grow  in  this  country,  but  the  beautiful 
branching  kind  is  imported.  After  the 
rains  this  fall  go  to  Saucelito  and  make 
your  homes  beautiful  for  the  winter;  it 
will  repay  you. — S.  F.  Chronicle. 


HOKTICULTURE     IS    A    WAE     WITH 
INSECTS." 


This  is  no  figure  of  speech.  Go  into 
the  vegetable  garden;  would  you  As- 
paragus ? — beetles;  would  you  Radish? 
maggots;  early  Cabbages  and  Cauli- 
flowers ? — green  worms  and  lice  above 
ground,  and  club-root  below.  Would 
you  Cucumber?' — the  " flea "  and  strip- 
ed-bug have  something  to  say  on  that. 
If  you  like  Peas,  you  must  also  like 
Bruchus  pisi.  If  you  would,  as  all  rea- 
sonable people  should — make  your 
Pumpkin-pie  out  of  Squash,  your  chance 
for  the  delicious  Marrow,  Hubbard,  or 
Marblehead  is  small,  if  you  do  not  pick 
off  that  solemn  and  odorous  bug,  Goreus 
tristis,  so  as  to  leave  the  vines  in  good 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


303 


condition  for  the  borer,  which  goes 
near  the  root  of  the  matter,  and  the  six 
or  eight  feet  of  vigorous  vine  that  your 
care  has  preserved,  goes  in  a  night. 
Tomatoes  and  Egg-plants  you  grow  to 
feed  a  fat  fellow,  as  big  as  your  finger, 
and  so  all  through  the  catalogue,  from 
the  time  the  first  Asparagus-shoot  comes 
through  the  ground  until  the  last  Par- 
snip is  dug.  Nor  is  it  any  better  in  the 
fruit  garden.  You  have  grown  your 
Strawberries  in  hills  for  two  years,  and 
now  look  for  a  grand  crop;  they  were 
white  with  flowers,  the  fruit  set  finely, 
but  you  find  that  here  and  there  a  vine 
has  collapsed;  the  next  day  more  vines 
give  out;  you  dig  down,  and  find  a  fat, 
white  grub,  which  likes  what  the  Straw- 
berry produces  below  ground  quite  as 
well  as  you  do  that  which  it  bears 
above.  The  majority  of  the  Strawber- 
ries may  fail,  but  there  are  the  Currants, 
which  set  so  full  and  are  already  ripen- 
ing. Look  at  your  early  ripened  Cur- 
rants, and  they  will  be  found  to  be  still 
small,  and  have  only  turned  red,  be- 
cause the  borer  has  taken  the  life  out  of 
the  stem.  Rose- bugs  will  eat  up  the 
Grape-blossoms,  curculios  sting  the 
Cherries  and  Plums,  and  if  there  are 
any  Apples  and  Pears  this  year,  it  will 
be  because  there  were  not  enough  of  the 
codling  -  moth  and  its  allies  to  go 
round.  Take  the  ornamental  parts  of 
the  grounds.  Upon  about  one-half  of 
the  shrubs  there  will  be  some  kind  of 
an  aphis  to  curl  up  and  partly  kill  the 
leaves.  You  are  fond  of  Roses,  and 
precious  few  do  you  get.  You  fight  the 
early  green  fly  with  tobacco-water;  the 
later  slug  is  dosed  with  whale-oil  or 
carbolic  soap,  and  when  these  are  in  a 
measure  vanquished,  and  buds  of  prom- 
ise come,  you  go  out  one  morning,  and 
find  six  or  eight  Rose-bugs  at  every  op- 
ening Rose,  and  those  which  can  not 
get  a  chance  at  the  opening  ones   are 


discounting  the  matter  by  gnawing  the 
buds.  If  you  believe  anything  will 
trouble  these  fellows,  just  try  it.  As  I 
do  not  expect  to  live  anything  like  half 
a  century  longer,  I  can  worry  along, 
and  take  the  few  vegetables,  fruits,  and 
flowers  these  winged  scourges  and  their 
larvee  leave  me,  but  my  trouble  is,  as 
this  destruction  increases  yearly,  to 
guess  what  will  be  the  state  of  affairs  in 
years  to  come,  unless  something  is  done 
to  arrest  this  devastation.  Unless  unit- 
ed action  can  be  had,  individual  effort 
is  useless.  The  Apaches,  who  make 
their  raids  upon  the  borders  of  northern 
Mexico,  steal  judiciously,  a  few  horses 
here  and  a  few  cattle  there,  but  never 
break  up  the  settlement,  as  that  would 
be,  so  to  speak,  destroying  the  nest- 
egg.  Our  insects  seem  to  have  some 
such  instinct,  and  they  do  not,  as  the 
grasshoppers  of  the  "West,  make  a  clean 
sweep,  but  leave  us  just  enough  to  en- 
courage us  to  go  on  and  provide  food 
for  their  progeny  of  next  year.  One 
person  can  do  nothing.  My  neighbor  on 
one  side  says :  ' '  My  man  tells  me  that 
the  worms  are  eating  up  his  Cabbages." 
My  neighbor  on  the  other  side  says: 
"  "Well,  I  never  did  see  anything  like 
it."  But  neither  do  the  first  thing  to 
kill  the  pest,  What  good  does  it  do 
for  me  to  dust,  and  powder,  and  squirt 
all  the  remedies  I  can  hear  of — and  I  do 
kill  some — while  on  each  side  of  me 
there  is  ample  provision  for  next  year's 
insects?  If  a  State  has  a  right  to  legis- 
late against  Canada  thistles,  have  they 
not  the  same  right  to  make  laws  to  pre- 
vent the  increase  of  the  Squash-bug, 
the  Rose-bug,  the  codling -moth,  or 
any  other  controllable  insect,  that  now 
takes  the  larger  share  of  our  vegetables 
and  fruits,  to  say  nothing  of  our  flow- 
ers ?  I  did  not  intend  to  make  so  long 
a  ' '  preach "  about  insects,  but  I  am 
well  persuaded  that  it  is  the   duty  of 


304 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


every  State  to  look  to  this  matter,  as 
one  affecting  its  material  interests,  as 
much  as  vile  weeds,  stray  animals,  or 
horse-thieves.  Missouri  has  set  a  grand 
example  to  the  older  States.  She  has  a 
State  Entomologist,  a  competent  man, 
to  tell  the  people  which  insects  are  in- 
jurious, and  how  they  may  be  fought. 
I  hope  that  after  a  proper  time  for  this 
knowledge  to  be  disseminated,  she  will 
set  a  still  better  example,  and  make  it  a 
penal  offence  for  anyone  to  harbor  and 
allow  to  multiply  any  preventible  in- 
sect.— American  Agriculturist. 

[We  in  California  are  not  so  afflicted, 
but  we  should  accept  the  foregoing  as 
an  indication  of  future  possibilities,  and 
as  a  warning  to  be  up  and  doing. — Ed.] 


THE  COUNTKY  OF  OECHIDS. 


BY    AMATEUB. 


The  number  and  variety  of  fine  Or- 
chids which  have  for  a  long  time  been 
introduced  and  cultivated  at  Wood- 
ward's Gardens,  and  more  lately  by 
some  of  our  florists,  especially  Miller  & 
Sievers,  T.  O'Connor  &  Co.,  and  F. 
Ludemann  &  Co.,  have,  no  doubt,  cre- 
ated interest  in  the  minds  of  the  public  * 
with  regard  to  their  character,  habits, 
and  habitat.  This  family  is  one  of  the 
largest  and  widest  spread  which  our 
globe  contains.  Except  in  those  deso- 
late regions  where  winter  rages  almost 
without  intermission,  there  is  scarcely  a 
country,  isolated  though  it  may  be, 
which  does  not  spontaneously  produce 
some  interesting  individuals  of  this 
great  family.  However,  whatever  may 
be  the  merit  of  many  Orchids  of  north- 
ern regions,  it  is  evident  that  in  pro- 
ceeding from  the  north  to  the  south, 
in  going  from  the  frozen  to  the  temper- 
ate zone,  and  thence  into  the  intertrop- 


ical countries,  the  beauty,  size  and 
showiness  of  the  species,  taken  alto- 
gether, increases,  as  does  their  number, 
with  temperature  of  places,  and  espe- 
cially with  the  intensity  of  the  light 
and  the  atmospheric  humidity. 

Another  phenomenon  is  produced  as 
we  approach  the  warmer  portion  of  the 
globe,  at  some  degrees  north  or  south 
of  the  tropics,  namely:  thus  far  the  Or- 
chids, following  the  most  general  law 
of  vegetation,  implant  themselves  in 
the  ground  and  there  collect  their 
nourishment,  under  some  special  con- 
ditions, however;  but  hardly  have  they 
attained  the  fruitful  regions  which  a 
vertical  sun  floods  with  light  and  heat, 
than  they  quit,  for  the  most  part,  their 
terrestrial  habitations,  and  disdaining 
to  creep,  fix  themselves  on  living  or 
dead  trees,  and  suspend  themselves  by 
lining  the  slits  of  the  bark  with  their 
roots,  and  thus  go  through  all  the  pha- 
ses of  their  life  without  touching  the 
earth,  without  borrowing  anything  from 
it,  collecting  from  the  air  that  sur- 
rounds them,  from  the  moisture  with 
which  it  is  impregnated,  without  doubt, 
also,  from  the  gases  which  the  great 
work  of  decomposition  and  assimilation 
in  the  virgin  forests  disengages,  the  el- 
ements of  that  vegetation  which  is  term- 
ed epiphytal,  and  which  we  must  be 
careful  not  to  confound  with  the  parasite 
existence  of  certain  vegetation  whose 
roots  pump  up  from  under  the  bark  the 
sap  of  living  trees,  as  our  Orchids  de- 
mand nothing  but  a  solid  resting-place 
and  a  shelter. 

In  the  limits  where  the  epiphytal  Or- 
chids are  met,  that  is,  within  the  trop- 
ics and  a  little  beyond  them,  hardly 
farther,  however,  than  30°  north  or 
south  latitude,  are  found  the  warmest 
parts  of  our  globe;  the  coasts  and  the 
low  regions  generally  are  exposed  to 
a    heat    which    European    races    can 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


305 


hardly  support.  However,  the  coasts 
and  provinces  which  border  on  it  had 
been  known  and  explored  a  long  time 
before  the  more  moderate  parts  which 
occupy  the  interior  of  the  large  conti- 
nents of  Asia  and  America,  and  it  was 
along  the  coast  at  a  little  distance  from 
it  that  the  first  Orchids,  on  which  the 
patience  of  European  cultivators  was 
exercised,  were  gathered.  It  was  from 
that  was  originated  and  propagated  the 
idea,  in  most  cases  erroneous,  that 
Orchids  do  not  prosper  except  under 
the  influence  of  excessive  temperatures. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  some  Or- 
chids are  found  near  the  ocean  and  al- 
most on  its  shore,  and  that  even  under 
the  equator,  whose  torrid  heats  they  en- 
dure, thanks  to  the  excessive  moisture 
and  thick  shade  of  some  low  valleys, 
deep  and  watered.  Yet  this  is  only  an 
exception,  especially  in  America.  In 
Asia,  where  the  torrid  part  of  the  con- 
tinent is  suddenly  broken  off  on  the 
south  by  the  ocean,  on  the  north  by  the 
highest  mountains  of  the  earth,  and 
where  climatic  conditions  are  subject  to 
the  influence  of  this  disposition,  there 
are  some  races  of  Orchids,  of  powerful 
vegetation  and  splendid  appearance, 
which  inhabit  extremely  warm  but  ex- 
tremely moist  forests  of  the  lower  parts 
of  Hindostan,  of  the  Malayan  peninsu- 
la, of  Java,  Sumatra,  Borneo,  New 
Guinea,  the  Molaccas,  etc. 

The  Orchidacese  are  the  type  of  the 
most  extraordinary  order  in  the  whole 
range  of  the  vegetable  creation,  which 
possesses  high  claims  on  the  culturist's 
attention  for  its  own  intrinsic  loveli- 
ness. 

Orchidaceous  plants  are  capable  of 
reproducing  themselves  by  seeds,  and 
no  doubt  this  method  is  constantly  go- 
ing on  in  nature;  but  the  success  of 
man  in  attempting  to  turn  to  his  advan- 
tage this  natural  property  has  hitherto 


been  extremely  slight.  This  is  a  mat- 
ter of  less  regret,  as  the  majority  of 
them  are  readily  increased  by  the  sepa- 
ration of  their  parts.  They  may  be 
considered  as  terrestrial  or  epiphytal; 
that  is,  either  growing  upon  the  ground, 
or  attaching  themselves  to  other  vege- 
tation, rocks,  stones,  etc.  The  latter 
division  is  by  far  the  most  numerous, 
and  is  also  the  most  extraordinary  in  its 
organization.  The  different  species  re- 
quire different  treatment;  some  requir- 
ing much  shade  and  moisture,  some 
much  sun  and  moisture,  others  much 
moisture  with  heat,  and  others  again 
require  a  lower  temperature,  less  hu- 
midity, and  full  exposure  to  the  sun. 
All  require  annually  for  three  months  a 
low  temperature  and  great  drought; 
this  latter  is  their  time  of  rest,  or  win- 
ter. 

CALIFOENIA  SEEDLING  FKUITS. 

We  have  frequently  urged  our  nur- 
serymen and  orchardists  to  plant  seeds 
and  pits  with  a  view  to  originating  fruit 
better  adapted  to  the  peculiarities  of 
our  climate.  Most  of  our  old  standard 
varieties  were  originated  in  the  Northern 
States  of  the  Atlantic  slope,  and  are  con- 
sequently adapted  by  nature  to  a  colder 
climate  and  different  seasons.  With  us 
fruits  so  originated  very  generally  lack 
that  high  delicate  flavor  and  lively  acid 
taste  natural  to  them  in  the  climate  of 
their  origin.  The  winter  Apples  of  the 
Northern  Atlantic  States  become  with  us 
fall  Apples,  and  if  allowed  to  remain  on 
the  trees  a  little  too  long  lose  both  juice 
and  flavor  and  become  simply  insipid 
and  valueless.  If  picked  a  little  too  ear- 
ly they  are  apt  to  wilt  and  become 
tough  and  leathery,  or  to  prematurely 
decay.  Many  of  the  best  varieties  of 
Peaches  originated  East,  grow  indiffer- 
ently in  most  localities  in  California. 


306 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOBTICULTTJKIST. 


For  instance,  the  Early  and  Late  Craw- 
ford, except  in  some  damp  soils  and  a 
damp  atraosj)here,  in  this  State  ripens 
very  irregularly,  one  side  seeming  to  se- 
cure all  the  secretions  while  the  other 
remains  hard  and  undeveloped,  and  the 
pit  frequently  cracks  open,  impregnat- 
ing the  pulp  with  its  flavor  and  destroy- 
ing the  Peach.  Of  course  we  have  lo- 
calities in  the  State  where  these  objec- 
tions to  the  old  standard  varieties  do 
not  aj)ply,  as  in  some  of  the  coast  and 
bay  counties,  and  well  up  in  the  foot- 
hills of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  where  the 
climate  conforms  more  nearly  to  that  in 
which  they  were  originated;  and  this 
fact  of  itself  confirms  the  position  taken 
by  us,  and  presents  another  argument 
in  favor  of  originating  our  own  varieties 
for  general  culture  in  the  State. 

While  upon  this  subject  it  may  not 
be  improper  to  remark  that  in  plant- 
ing the  seeds  of  pit  fruits  particularly  it 
is  best  to  obtain  pits  from  fruit  that  has 
never  been  propagated  by  any  of  the 
modern  modes  of  propagation,  such  as 
grafting,  budding,  etc.  Pits  from  the 
original  native  fruit  as  found  in  the  for- 
est, are  by  experience  proved  to  be  much 
inore  likely  to  produce  trees  free  from 
disease,  than  pits  taken  from  fruit  pro- 
duced by  the  ordinary  means  of  cultiva- 
tion. Hence,  in  Delaware  and  New 
Jersey,  and  portions  of  Maryland, 
where  Peaches  are  an  important  and 
profitable  crop,  the  nurserymen  invaria- 
bly obtain  the  Peach-pits  for  stocks  on 
which  to  bud  improved  varieties,  from 
some  of  the  Southern  States,  where  bud- 
ding has  not  been  to  any  extent  intro- 
duced, and  where  all  the  Peaches  are 
seedlings  or  natural  fruit.  In  this  way 
they  obtain  more  vigorous  and  long- 
lived  trees,  less  subject  to  the  curled 
leaf  and  other  diseases.  "We  would  sug- 
gest to  our  nurserymen  that  the  same 
practice  would  in  all  probability  be  at- 


tended with  good  results  here.  The 
Peach-tree  here  is  notably  of  short  life, 
and  we  have  but  little  doubt  but  this 
tendency  of  the  tree  is  in  consequence 
of  departing  so  universally  from  this 
well-known  principle  in  its  propagation. 
The  nurseryman  who  shall  change  this 
plan  of  raising  his  Peach  stock  from 
pits  collected  here,  and  imports  pits 
from  North  Carolina,  for  instance,  grown 
on  trees  that  have  never  in  their  history 
been  propagated,  except  in  the  natural 
way,  will  confer  a  great  benefit  upon 
the  State  and  add  largely  to  his  own 
reputation  as  a  nurseryman.  We  have 
already  quite  a  large  list  of  seedling 
fruits  originated  in  this  State,  but  they 
have  been  originated  as  a  general  thing 
more  by  accident  than  design,  and  more 
by  mere  orchardists  than  by  profession- 
al nurserymen,  and  hence  have  had 
none  of  the  benefits  of  scientific  culture 
or  designed  fruit  pedigree,  so  to  speak. 
While  this  fact  is  not  much  to  the  cred- 
it of  our  professional  nurserymen, '  it 
speaks  well  for  our  State  as  the  place  to 
originate  fruit  to  be  cultivated  here. 
We  were  lately  shown  some  seedling 
fruit  by  Robert  Williamson  of  this  city, 
among  which  is  the  Eureka  Apple,  a 
seedling  originated  by  James  Welty  of 
Yolo  County.  It  is  an  Apple  above 
medium  size;  slightly  elongated;  color 
green;  generally  striped;  very  hand- 
some; flavor  most  delicious,  subacid; 
an  annual  and  profuse  bearer,  and  ri- 
pens from  the  1st  to  the  10th  of  August. 
An  excellent  eating,  cooking  and  mar- 
ket Apple;  tree,  a  moderate  grower, 
and  rather  upright  habit.  Also,  a  large, 
yellow  Apple,  with  pink  blush  on  the 
sunny  side,  originated  by  Mr.  Skinner, 
Santa  Clara  County,  and  knownln  that 
vicinity  as  Skinner's  Seedling,  but  intro- 
duced here  by  Robert  Williamson,  and 
named  by  him  the  Santa  Clara  King. 
This  Apple  grows  as  large  as  the  Gloria 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICTJLTUKIST. 


307 


Mundi,  and  in  form  resembles  it,  but 
in  flavor  is  far  superior,  being  most  ex- 
cellent, slightly  subacid.  The  tree  is 
very  peculiar  —  in  form  and  habit  re- 
sembling the  Ked  Astrachan;  the  new 
shoots  being  very  large  and  heavy,  with 
large  and  abrupt  terminal  buds,  very 
dark  large  green  leaf,  and  luxuriant 
foliage.  James  W.  Welty  has  also  orig- 
inated a  seedling  Plum,  which  proves 
to  be  a  most  valuable  addition  to  our 
list  of  Plums.  It  is  large,  and  pink- 
colored —  shaped  much  like  the  Brad- 
shaw,  most  excellent  flavor,  half  cling 
where  originated  on  the  Sacramento 
River,  but  on  some  soils  free.  It  is  a  su- 
perior Plum  for  shipping  long  distances. 
This  Plum  has  been  named  the  "Welty 
Plum,  and  is  so  known  generally  in  this 
market.  The  tree  is  very  hardy,  and 
this  season  withstood  the  April  frosts 
and  bore  a  heavy  crop  in  every  orchard 
where  it  has  been  planted  and  grown 
to  bearing  age,  while  Plums  of  other 
varieties  in  the  same  orchards  were 
killed.  This  makes  it  the  more  valua- 
ble, and  is  itself  a  strong  point  in  favor 
of  the  practice  we  recommend  to  our  nur- 
serymen. "We  learn  from  Mr.  William- 
son that  he  has  in  his  nursery,  collect- 
ed from  different  sources,  some  fifteen 
or  twenty  other  varieties  of  new  fruits, 
all  having  been  originated  from  seed  on 
this  coast,  and,  with  one  exception,  in 
this  State.  He  considers  most,  if  not 
all  of  them,  superior  to  the  old  stand- 
ard varieties,  ripening  at  the  same  time; 
that,  as  a  rule,  they  are  more  hardy, 
more  prolific,  better  shippers,  and  gen- 
erally better  adapted  to  this  climate  and 
market. 

B.  S.  Fox,  a  nurseryman  of  Santa 
Clara  County,  has  originated  a  large 
number  of  seedling  Pears,  some  of  which 
are  equal  to  the  best  varieties  known. 
A  few  specimens  of  these  seedlings  were 
exhibited  a  few  years  ago  at  an  exhibi- 


tion of  the  American  Pomological  So- 
ciety, and  were  commended  highly  by 
some  of  the  most  distinguished  pomolo- 
gists  in  the  Union.  One  of  these  seed- 
lings has  very  much  the  size  and  appear- 
ance of  the  Winter  Nelis,  and  is  as  nice- 
ly flavored  as  the  Seckel. 

Dr.  J.  R.  Crandall,  of  Auburn,  an 
amateur  culturist,  has  a  seedling  which 
he  considers  one  of  the  most  valuable 
winter  Pears  grown.  It  is  large,  well- 
formed,  fine  flavored,  and  keeps  till  late 
in  the  spring.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
we  should  give  more  attention  to  seed- 
lingfruits.- — Sacramento  Record-Union. 


PROPER  USE  OF     THE    LANDING-NET 
WHEN  ANGLING. 

BY  E.  J.  HOOPEE. 

We  have  already  given  our  reasons  in 
the  Hokticulttjkist  for  admitting  the 
subject  of  angling  in  its  pages.  Our 
excuse  for  this  is,  that  this  seductive 
sport  to  many,  of  old  Isaak  Walton, 
leads  its  votaries  to  a  close  and  interest- 
ing relationship  with  nature  and  natural 
history  —  indeed,  with  Horticulture  it- 
self, in  trees,  shrubs,  flowers,  birds, 
insects,  etc. — so  much  may  be  learned, 
so  many  hints  may  be  taken  in  these  in- 
viting and  instructive  fields  of  knowl- 
edge, to  aid  us  and  to  instill  into  our 
minds  that  enthusiasm,  energy,  and 
taste  in  our  horticultural  pursuits,  while 
prosecuting  our  favorite  amusement  in 
this  gentle  and  contemplative  art  of  be- 
guiling the  various  and  beautiful  fish 
with  which  nearly  all  descriptions  of 
water  abound  in  all  countries.  And 
now  having  relieved  our  minds,  by  en- 
deavoring to  satisfy  or  pacify  any  of 
our  readers  who  may  consider  angling 
a  rather  incongruous  subject  when  con- 
nected with  Horticulture,  we  will  pro- 


308 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


ceed  to  continue  to  offer  some  practical 
directions  for  anglers,  which  may  possi- 
bly be  of  service  to  them  in  following 
their  favorite  recreation.  And  now  with 
respect  to  the  manner  of  the  use  of  the 
landing-net,  which  is  the  caption  of  this 
article.  It  is  very  surprising  that  so 
few  anglers  really  know  how  to  use  this 
instrument  in  a  sportsmanlike  style. 
Indeed,  the  proper  use  of  it  seems  to 
be  hardly  attainable  by  some,  who  in 
other  respects  have  some  pretensions  to 
be  experienced  fishers,  especially  fly- 
fishers;  they  therefore  deprecate  the 
use  of  it.  Often  has  the  writer  been 
amused  while  following  one  of  these 
worthies  in  his  frantic  efforts  to  get  the 
fish  into  his  net — pursuing  the  fish  now 
here,  now  there — poking  it  after  him  as 
he  made  desperate  efforts  to  get  away, 
but  never  once  holding  the  rod  up  or 
attempting  by  it  to  guide  the  fish  to  the 
net;  at  one  time  pulling  him  away  with 
the  rod  and  line,  then  thrustiDg  the  net 
after  him,  for  no  other  purpose  appar- 
ently, than  to  make  the  fish  still  more 
crazy;  till  at  last  he  has  cast  it  away  al- 
together, and  resorted  to  the  juvenile 
method  of  hauling  up  the  fish,  line  in 
hand,  and  lifting  him  by  it,  or  attempt- 
ing to  do  so,  when  snap  goes  the  snood- 
ing,  and  the  fish  takes  himself  off,  to  the 
said  worthy's  no  small  chagrin  and  mor- 
tification. Then  follows  such  a  lesson 
on  the  uselessness  of  the  landing  -  net 
that  I  have  almost  sometimes  question- 
ed the  party's  sanity.  Even  some  of 
our  best  authorities  in  the  works  on  an- 
gling seem  not  to  have  known  how 
properly  to  net  a  fish,  as  some  of  these 
call  that  most  useful  instrument,  a  land- 
ing-net, an  "  inconvenient  convenience," 
and  recommend  more  earnestly  the  gaff. 
They,  like  all  others  who  can  not  use  it 
properly,  are  greatly  to  be  pitied;  for 
they  lose  much  of  the  pleasure  derived 
from  fine  single-gut  fly-fishing;  at  least 


we  in  our  fine  American  waters  would 
fare  but  badly  without  it.  Rather  walk 
with  your  fish  than  give  him  line,  for 
you  lose  command  of  him  by  so  doing; 
and  always  after  you  have  hooked  one 
keep  your  line  tight,  until  you  have 
jockeyed  him  into  the  net. 

In  order  to  describe  the  proper  use  of 
the  landing-net  we  will  suppose  that 
you  have  hooked  a  fish  while  standing 
very  near  or  in  the  water.  First,  then, 
run  the  shaft  of  your  landing-net  for- 
ward until  you  are  holding  it  in  your 
left  hand  in  the  same  way  as  you  hold 
your  rod  in  the  right,  and  at  the  same 
distance  from  the  butt-end,  keeping  the 
net-head  just  in  the  water  before  you. 
Do  not  poke  it  at  the  fish  to  set  him 
away,  but  keep  it  there  while  you 
draw  up  your  fish  with  your  rod  and 
line  (having  first  wotmd  the  latter  up 
to  the  proper  length),  and  pull  him 
steadily  toward  the  net,  and,  as  soon 
as  he  is  over  it,  raise  it  out  of  the  water, 
with  him  in  it;  run  your  left  hand  up 
the  shaft  so  that  you  can  reach  the  fish 
with  your  right,  put  your  rod  under 
your  right  arm,  take  the  shaft  of  your 
net  under  your  left  arm;  pass  the  fish 
to  your  left  hand,  holding  him  around 
the  shoulders  with  your  thumb  in  his 
gills;  take  the  shank  of  your  fly-hook 
close  to  the  bend  between  your  finger 
and  thumb-nail,  getting  the  nail  into 
the  bend,  which  will  save  your  fly  from 
injury,  and  so  pull  it  out;  hold  your 
net  in  your  right  hand,  while  you  bas- 
ket your  fish;  resume  the  net  with  your 
left  hand  and  your  rod  with  the  right; 
let  go  the  fly,  round  with  your  rod, 
making  a  full  sweep  or  two,  and  so  to 
work  again.  Always  contrive  to  pull 
your  fish  down  or  across  the  water  to 
land  him,  either  by  your  net  or  other- 
wise. When  a  good  fish  can  be  landed 
in  this  style  it  is  one  of  the  neatest 
feats  of  the  craft,  and  at  once   stamps 


THE    CALLFOKNIA    HOETICULTUKIST. 


309 


the    practitioner   as   an    accomplished 

artist. 

♦ 

SUMMEK  TONES. 

BY   HENKT   GILMAN. 

The  bluebird  from  the  drooping  Ash 

Echoes  the  runnel's  silvery  splash, 

And,  robed  in  azure  of  the  sky 

Makes  heaven  and  earth  a  unity. 

In  meadows  by  the  river  brink 

Flutes  the  agile  bobolink; 

And,  hid  by  green  leaves,  under — over — 

The  golden-throated  vireos  hover. 

From  out  the  misty  distance  roll 

The  trumpets  of  the  oriole ; 

And,  ceasing,  gentle  murmurs  come — 

The  insect's  faint,  melodious  hum, 

The  crooning  bees,  half  drowned  in  balm, 

In  clovered  meadows  long  and  calm ; 

And,  fine  and  shrill,  from  sandy  banks, 

The  cricket's  cheery  note  of  thanks. 

At  the  Elm-tree's  foot  there  lingers, 
Pale  as  spring's  own  pearly  fingers, 
The  slender  Windflower,  like  a  fairy — 
Eightly  named,  so  light  and  airy; — 
And  rises  without  speck  or  flaw, 
The  Ivy-leaved  Hepatica. 
All  unconscious  of  its  grace, 
The  Violet  hides  its  modest  face, 
While,  above,  the  Columbine 
And  the  lithe  Clematis  twine. 

Far  beyond  the  Laurel-bushes, 
Guarded  by  the  spear-like  rushes, 
Flames  the  Marigold,  a  light 
That  even  seems  a  torch  at  night. 
There  the  lands  lie  low  and  meery, 
Haunted  by  the  clear- voiced  veery; — 
There,  bewitched,  I  stand  and  listen, 
While  the  diamond  sun-dews  glisten. 

Deeper  in  the  forest,  where 

Silence  fills  the  pulseless  air, 

And  withered  leaves,  last  year.'s  farewell, 

So  thickly  strew  the  ferny  dell, 

The  Lily,  child  of  promise,  dwells, 

As  pure  as  heaven's  own  Asphodels. 

This  is  pleasure !    This  is  grace ! 
From  pain  and  care  a  glad  release. 
Is  it  a  mist  that  doth  arise? 
Or  are  they  tears  that  dim  my  eyes, 
Or  is  this  half  a  Paradise? 


BUY  SMALL  TREES. 

The  average  American  is  in  a  great 
hurry  to  realize  on  his  investments.  If 
he  orders  a  few  garden  seeds  in  Janu- 
ary, he  is  anxious  to  have  them  set  im- 
mediately; and  if  he  forwards  six  cents 
for  a  copy  of  some  paper  which  con- 
tains a  story  of  which  he  has  read  or 
heard,  he  does  not  forget  to  request  the 
publisher  to  send  it  "  by  return  mail." 
Patience  which  takes  the  form  of  quiet 
waiting  is  a  virtue  of  which  he  seems  to 
be  wholly  ignorant.  He  can  not  wait 
the  progress  of  events,  but  must  con- 
stantly hurry  and  fret  in  order  to  make 
nature  move  a  little  faster  than  her 
wonted  pace. 

This  tendency  crops  out  very  plainly 
when  he  purchases  trees.  He  finds 
them  described  in  the  catalogue  as 
"  second-class,  "  "  medium,  "  "  first- 
class,"  and  "  extra."  The  difference  in 
these  classes  is  principally,  if  not  whol- 
ly, in  the  size  and  height  of  the  trees. 
The  larger  the  tree  the  higher  the  price. 
But  the  farmer  "  don't  care  anything 
about  that."  He  wants  good  trees  or 
none;  and  gives  his  orders  for  those  of 
extra  size,  and  which  are  four  and  five 
years  old.  In  doing  this  he  thinks  he 
is  acting  wisely,  but  the  nurseryman 
knows  better,  and  the  farmer  will  find 
before  long  that  with  equal  care,  the 
small  trees  will  grow  faster  and  (if  fruit- 
trees)  come  into  bearing  condition  soon- 
er than  the  larger  ones. 

In  half  a  dozen  years  the  tree  that 
was  small  when  planted  will  be  larger 
and  finer  than  the  other.  The  reason 
for  this  is  obvious.  The  larger  the 
tree  the  larger  the  roots  which  it  has, 
and  the  larger  the  roots  the  less  fibres 
there  will  be  upon  them.  A  tree  that 
has  plenty  of  fibrous  roots  will  grow 
readily  if  proper  care  is  used  in  trans- 
planting; but  no  amount  of  skill  can 


310 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


coax  a  tree  to  live  and  flourish  which  is 
destitute  of  these  little  fibres.  The 
roots  of  large  trees  are  all  more  or  less 
mutilated  in  the  process  of  taking  up, 
while  the  small  trees  sustain  little  in- 
jury from  this  source.  Dealers  in  trees 
assert  that  experienced  men  buy  small, 
thrifty  trees,  while  those  who  are  just 
starting  are  anxious  for  the  largest  ones 
to  be  had.  Those  who  are  to  set  trees 
the  coming  season  will  do  well  to  learn 
from  the  experience  of  those  who,  at 
considerable  loss  to  themselves,  have 
demonstrated  that  small  trees  are  the 
ones  to  buy. 


JAPANESE  PAPER. 

At  the  great  Vienna  Exhibition  a  com- 
plete collection  of  articles  of  wonderful 
variety,  and  all  made  of  paper,  attract- 
ed much  attention  in  the  Japanese  sec- 
tion. The  process  of  manufacture  was 
a  secret  at  the  time,  and  the  public  were 
at  a  loss  to  comprehend  how  pocket 
handkerchiefs,  napkins,  dresses,  orna- 
ments, umbrellas,  etc.,  could  be  made 
so  strong  and  durable  from  so  frail  a 
material.  A  member  of  the  Society  of 
Orientalists,  M.  Zappe,  has  at  length 
penetrated  the  mystery,  and  published 
the  process  by  which  this  paper  is  ob- 
tained. The  substance  employed  is  the 
bark  of  Broussonetia  papyrifera,  a  sort 
of  Mulberry-tree,  which  is  also  used  by 
the  inhabitants  of  the  islands  of  the  Pa- 
cific for  a  sort  of  cloth,  the  manufacture 
of  which,  however,  differs  completely 
from  that  employed  by  the  Japanese  for 
their  paper. 

The  rearing  of  this  tree  is  extremely 
easy;  its  roots  are  cut  up  into  pieces 
three  inches  in  length,  which  are  stuck 
into  the  ground,  where  they  strike  with 
astonishing  rapidity.  Within  the  first 
year  their  offshoots  attain  the  length  of 


nine  inches,  and  thrice  that  within  the 
second.     The  stem  also  grows  fast  and 
reaches  the  height  of  thirteen  feet  in 
the  course  of  three  years;  and  if  care 
has  been  taken  to  prune  it  properly,  the 
plant  has  the  appearance  of  a  vigorous 
shrub.     At  the  beginning  of  winter  the 
branches  are   lopped  off  and  cut  into 
bits  two  inches  long,  then  boiled  until 
the  bark  strips  off  easily.     The  latter 
is  then  laid  out  to  dry  in  the  air  for  two 
or  three  days,  and  afterward  exposed  for 
twenty-four  hours  to  the  action  of  a  run- 
ning  stream,    and    ultimately   carded, 
whereby  two  kinds  of  fibre  are  separated 
from  each  other,  viz. :  the  outer  ones, 
called  sarakawa,  which  are  coarse  and 
serve  to  make  paper  of  inferior  quality, ' 
and  the  inner    ones,  called  sosori,  for 
first-rate  sorts.     These  latter  are  rolled 
up  into  bales  weighing  thirty-five  pounds 
each,  which  are  again  exposed  to  run- 
ning water,   then,   dried,    and    lastly, 
boiled  in  large   kettles.     After  rinsing 
again  in   cold  water,  these    fibres  are 
now   crushed   and  pounded  in  wooden 
mortars     for    about    twenty    minutes, 
made   up  into  balls,   and  reduced  to 
pulp,  mixing  therewith  a  small  quanti- 
ty of  a  liquid  extracted  from  Hibiscus 
manihot,  and   some  rice-water,    to  pre- 
serve it   from  the   ravages  of  insects. 
The   pulp  is  then  made  into  paper  in 
the  usual  way,  or  drawn  into  threads  to 
be  woven  with  silk. 


ABOUT  BUGS. 

Mrs.  I.  H.  Williams,  a  successful  flor- 
ist, furnished  a  paper  for  the  recent 
meeting  of  the  Wisconsin  Horticultural 
Society,  of  which  the  following  is  the 
main  portion: 

' '  The  aphis  or  green  fly  is  so  well 
known  to  all  plant  -  growers  that  it 
scarcely  needs  a  description,  and  is  the 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOETICULTUKIST. 


311 


easiest  to  dispose  of  in  the  greenhouse 
by  smoking  with  dampened  tobacco 
stems,  then  syringing.  This  knocks 
the  stifled  bugs  down  into  the  earth, 
where  their  wings  become  covered  with 
it,  and  they,  being  unable  to  remove  it, 
soon  die.  Plants  in  the  house  may  be 
washed  with  warm  suds  and  rinsed  off 
with  clear  tepid  water,  and  then  re- 
move the  surface  of  the  soil  where  they 
will  fall.  Garden  plants  may  be  syr- 
inged with  tobacco  tea,  made  by  pour- 
ing hot  water  on  tobacco  stems.  A  de- 
coction made  from  quassia  chips  is  also 
recommended  as  a  wash.  Encourage 
the  lady-bug  and  toad  in  the  garden. 
They  are  untiring,  ever  vigilant,  and 
valuable  assistants  in  destroying  these 
insect  foes.  The  red  spider  is  the 
most  insidious  and  annoying  of  all  in- 
sects; its  aj^pearance  is  sudden,  and 
it  is  difficult,  on  account  of  its  minute- 
ness, to  be  noticed  until  much  mischief 
has  been  done.  They  appear  to  be 
brought  into  life  by  a  dry  hot  temper- 
ature, and,  when  they  have  taken  pos- 
session, are  a  difficult  claimant  to  re- 
move. A  cold  moist  temperature  is 
death  to  them,  and  this  can  be  obtain- 
ed by  repeated  dippings  and  shower- 
ings.  The  instinct  of  self-preservation 
seems  strong  in  all  the  insect  tribe,  tak- 
ing refuge,  as  niost  of  them  do,  on  the 
under  side  of  the  leaves.  Oftentimes  the 
red  spiders  can  not  be  seen  without  the 
aid  of  a  glass,  but  their  presence  soon 
speaks  for  itself  by  the  turning  brown 
and  curling  up  of  the  leaves.  A  wash 
composed  of  two  ounces  of  soft  soap  to 
a  gallon  of  cpiite  hot  water;  into  this 
dip  the  infested  plants,  let  them  drip, 
and  return  to  the  wash  again; .then  wash 
off  with  clear  water. 

The  mealy-bugis  the  most  repulsive- 
looking  of  all  insects.  "When  viewed 
through  a  microscope  it  resembles  a  ti- 
ny poodle-dog,  pinkish-white  in  color, 


oval  in  form,  unpleasant  to  kill,  and  a 
veiy  troublesome  intruder.  It  is  found 
on  hard  wooded  plants  such  as  the 
Fuchsia,  Ivy,  Geranium,  Hoya  carnosa 
or  Wax -plant,  and  even  taking  posses- 
sion of  the  most  prickly  of  Cactuses. 
Smoking,  freezing,  or  drowning  harms 
them  not.  The  only  remedy  is  a  strong 
suds  of  whale  -  oil  soap,  applied  with  a 
small  paint-brush. 

The  scale-bug  is  a  small,  oval,  brown- 
backed  insect,  with  thick  shell,  cling- 
ing so  closely  to  the  stalk  or  leaf  that  it 
seems  to  be  part  of  the  plant.  They 
must  cling  by  suction,  for  I  have  never 
been  able  to  discover  any  visible  means 
of  locomotion,  or  ever  seen  them  move, 
as  one  may  other  insects.  They  must 
be  rubbed  off  with  the  hand,  then  wash- 
ed with  strong  suds  of  whale-oil  soap. 
They  are  found  on  Abutilons,  Ivies,  Or- 
anges, Lemons,  and  sometimes  on  Ro- 
ses. Plants  thus  affected  should  in  the 
summer  be  planted  in  the  ground,  and 
let  the  busy  little  ants  do  the  work  of 
cleansing  for  you,  and  right  well  will 
they  do  it. 

The  thrip  is  a  small  white  fly,  usual- 
ly found  on  the  under  side  of  the 
leaves.  The  least  touch  of  the  plant 
will  cause  them  to  rise  and  fly.  They 
are  generally  found  where  plants  are 
grown  too  much  crowded  or  in  badly 
ventilated  places.  Tobacco  smoke  will 
dislodge  them,  or  where  there  are  but 
few  plants  sprinkle  and  wash  often. 
They  will  be  found  on  Bouvardias,  Sal- 
vias, Lantanas,  and  Poses.  Plants  so 
affected  will  have  on  the  under  side  of 
the  leaf  a  tiny  white  speck.  This  is 
the  egg  or  germ  which  produces  the  in- 
sect, so  be  sure  and  remove  it. 

The  Eose-slug  is  a  small  light-green 
worm  which  makes  its  appearance  about 
the  first  of  June,  to  greet  our  lovely 
June  Roses.  They,  like  the  rest,  shel- 
ter themselves  under  the  leaves;  they 


312 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


come  like  a  vast  army  in  battle  array, 
ready  to  defy  us.  They  make  sad  hav- 
oc, not  only  with  foliage,  but  even  de- 
stroy, the  buds,  so  that  some  years  it 
seems  impossible  to  preserve  this  queen 
of  flowers  from  their  ravages,  and  many 
in  despair  reluctantly  give  up  the  cult- 
ure of  the  Rose.  I  have  tried  the  fol- 
lowing, and  know  it  is  valuable,  destroy- 
ing the  slugs  without  injury  to  the 
plants :  One-fourth  pound  of  white  hel- 
lebore and  one-half  pint  soft  soap  to  a 
pailful  of  water.  Early  in  the  morning 
use  wash  with  a  garden  syringe,  as  with 
that  one  can  reach  the  under  side  of  the 
leaf.  In  August,  if  any  were  allowed  to 
escape  in  June,  they  will  return  again; 
watch  closely  and  at  once  apply  the 
remedy. 


PRUNING  APPLE-TREES. 

I  was  '  brought  up '  to  trim  Apple- 
trees  in  the  spring,  no  matter  what  the 
size,  shape  or  condition  of  the  tree,  it 
being  taken  for  granted  that  pruning  is 
necessary.  Aside  from  the  vague  and 
general  idea  that  the  tree  would  '  do 
better '  for  being  trimmed,  I  could  find 
no  reason  for  doing  it.  But  the  experi- 
ence and  observation  of  years  have  led 
me  to  some  definite  conclusions.  And 
among  them  are  the  following: 

1.  That  pruning  should  be  begun 
when  the  tree  is  small.  Any  shoots 
which  start  out  too  near  the  ground, 
with  superfluous  twigs,  should  be  re- 
moved the  first  season  of  their  growth. 
It  is  worse  than  useless  to  allow  branch- 
es to  grow  year  after  year  which  must 
eventually  be  cut  off.  It  takes  the  life 
and  strength  of  the  tree  to  grow  them, 
and  injures  it  when  they  are  cut  off. 
Very  often  when  branches  two  or  three 
inches  in  diameter  are  removed,  the 
stump  will  bleed  and  the  tree  will  re- 


ceive a  wound  from  which  it  never  re- 
covers. The  better  way  is  to  remove 
all  twigs  which  are  not  wanted  when 
they  are  small  and  can  be  cut  off  with 
a  common  knife. 

2.  All  branches  which  start  out  too 
near  the  ground  will,  if  not  removed, 
remain  just  as  near  the  ground  as  their 
first  starting-place.  I  suppose  it  is  the 
general  impression  that  a  tree  grows  in 
all  directions,  and  that  a  branch  which 
is  three  feet  from  the  ground  when  the 
tree  is  only  four  or  five  years  old  will 
be  six  or  eight  feet  high  when  the  tree 
is  fully  grown.  But  this  a  great  mis- 
take. A  tree  which  branches  low  when 
small,  will  always  branch  low  unless 
the  lower  shoots  are  removed. 

3.  When  the  desired  shape  of  a  tree 
is  obtained,  there  is  no  need  of  pruning 
except  to  remove  sprouts  and  dead 
limbs.  These  should  always  be  cut  off, 
either  in  the  winter  or  early  spring;  but 
the  common  practice  of  cutting  and 
slashing  is  an  injury  to  the  tree.  The 
renovation  of  old  orchards  by  cutting 
off  the  tops  and  most  of  the  branches  is 
a  make -shift  job  at  the  best.  It  is  a 
better  way  to  set  young  trees  before 
the  old  ones  fail.  They  can  be  pruned 
in  almost  any  form  desired,  and  will 
make  not  only  a  handsome,  but  also  a 
productive  and  permanent  orchard. — 
Exchange. 


Fence  op  Lombardy  Poplak. — Ac- 
cording to  the  Petaluma  Argus,  <T.  M. 
Palmer  is  trying  to  make  a  live  fence  of 
Lombardy  Poplar  on  his  ranch  near 
Donahue.  Last  March  he  planted  3,- 
000  cuttings  along  the  line  of  one  of  his 
fields,  placing  them  two  feet  apart. 
Nearly  all  have  thrived,  and  are  noA 
from  five  to  seven  feet  high.  Mr. 
Palmer  believes  they  will  make  a  gooc 
fence. 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUEIST. 


313 


A  BLACKBERKY   KANCH. 

Perhaps  but  few,  when  they  partake 
of  their  dainty  dessert  of  Blackberries 
and  cream  and  smack  their  lips  over  the 
luscious  fruit  of  the  Bubus  villosus,  the 
purple  juice  meanwhile  trickling  down 
and  painting  the  faces  of  the  surround- 
ing little  ones  like  the  Babes  in  the 
Wood,  when 

' '  The  robin  so  red 
"When  she  saw  them  lie  dead, 
Brought  strawberry  leaves 
And  over  them  spread," 

have  any  idea  of  their  production 
other  than  the  pastoral  recollection  of 
boyhood's  days,  of  nimble  lads  and 
lassies,  and  shady  groves,  and  torn 
clothes,  and  ringing  voices  that  last 
along  down  the  memory  of  time,  the 
sweetest  and  tenderest  of  all.  How 
would  these  reminiscences  be  dispelled 
by  a  visit  to  the  modern  Blackberry 
fields  that  supply  the  great  markets  of 
the  world !  Instead  of  the  shady  nooks 
and  scattering  bushes,  here  are  broad 
fields  and  solid  acres  planted  with  the 
regularity  of  a  Corn  -  field,  where,  in 
place  of  the  laughing  children  flitting 
butterfly -like  from  bush  to  bush,  are 
solid  platoons  of  Chinamen  moving  as 
solemnly  as  the  march  of  fate  on  the 
overladen  bushes;  and  for  the  happy 
return  scene  of  barefoot  trippings,  and 
cozy  baskets,  and  privileged  walkings 
by  the  girl  you  love,  are  only  dingy 
freight  -  trains  and  ponderous  engines, 
that  whistle  and  roar  and  groan  under 
the  burden  of  their  tons  of  freight. 
The  great  Blackberry  ranch  of  this 
part  of  the  country,  and  we  believe  the 
chief  of  all  that  supply  San  Francisco 
with  its  tons  daily  during  the  season, 
is  that  of  J.  &  W.  Trubody,  at  Tru- 
body's  Station  on  the  line  of  the  Napa 
Valley  railroad,  seven  miles  above 
Napa  and  about  one  and  a  half  from 

Vol.  V.— 30. 


Oak  Knoll.  Here  the  present  owners 
commenced  about  ten  years  ago,  and 
now  have  one  of  the  largest,  if  not  the 
largest,  Blackberry  fields  in  the  State. 
They  have  now  twelve  acres  in  full 
bearing,  and  three  acres  more  put  out 
last  year  that  will  bear  another  season. 
The  vines  are  planted  eight  feet  apart, 
which  would  give  about  700  to  the  acre, 
or  say  a  total  of  10,500  on  the  fifteen 
acres.  They  are  staked  and  trained 
up  about  six  feet  high. 

The  varieties  are  principally  Law- 
ton,  which  is  the  most  highly  esteemed 
of  all,  being  the  largest,  firmest,  best 
flavored  and  most  marketable;  also  Ear- 
ly Wilson,  Missouri  Mammoth,  and  Dor- 
chester. The  '  vines  bear  the  second 
year;  and  they  last,  it  is  hardly  known 
how  long,  but  Mr.  Trubody  thinks  that 
they  should  be  renewed  about  once  in 
ten  years.  They  have  vines  twelve 
years  old  that  are  hale  and  vigorous  as 
ever.  The  average  yield  of  an  acre  in 
full  bearing  is  four  tons  to  the  season. 
The  ground  required  is  a  rich  deposit, 
or  made  land.  There  is  no  irrigation 
used  by  the  Messrs.  T.,  their  berries 
being  sweeter  and  better  without.  The 
effect  of  irrigation  is  to  enlarge  and 
harden  the  white  heart  inside  the  ber- 
ry, until  it  becomes  so  hard  that  the 
pulpy  exterior  will  slip  off  in  eating; 
also  to  reduce  the  percentage  of  sugar 
some  20  or  25  per  cent.  Ordinary  dry- 
raised  Blackberries  have  from  five  to 
six  per  cent  of  sugar;  irrigated  ones  on- 
ly four  to  five.  It  is  possible  that  in 
drier  ground  they  would  have  to  be  ir- 
rigated, but  in  the  Messrs.  Trubody's 
ranch  the  water  is  only  three  to  four 
feet  below  the  surface,  except  in  the 
dry  season. 

The  pickers  are  Chinamen,  for  the 
double  reason  of  greater  expedition  for 
the  work  to  be  performed  and  such 
cheapness  as  is  required  in  the  low 


314 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HORTICULTUKIST. 


price  at  which  the  berries  are  sent  to 
market.  The  number  employed  varies 
from  six  to  forty-five,  according  to  the 
stages  of  the  season,  averaging  over  for- 
ty for  about  three  weeks.  The  season 
lasts  about  two  months,  and  the  ex- 
pense of  picking,  shipping,  commission, 
etc.,  averages  $100  per  day  for  three 
weeks  of  the  busiest  time,  tapering  off 
at  each  end  of  the  season,  when  less 
help  is  used.  The  Chinamen  work 
very  slowly  and  leisurely  at  it,  picking 
about  eighty  pounds  a  day  per  man, 
or  sixteen  of  the  little  five-pound  draw- 
ers. They  each  have  a  little  frame  call- 
ed a  "shade"  (the  invention  of  A. 
Trubody),  in  which  the  drawer  is  car- 
ried while  picking,  which  is  principally 
for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  sun  off 
the  berries,  when  picked,  'and  also 
keeps  leaves,  etc.,  from  falling  in  off 
the  bushes.  If  the  sun  be  allowed  to 
shine  long  on  picked  berries,  it  turns 
them  of  a  reddish  color  and  impairs 
their  flavor,  thereby,  of  course,  injuring 
them  for  market,  though  we  believe 
they  regain  their  color  in  cooking.  The 
greatest  quantity  picked  any  one  day 
was  4,300  pounds  last  year  for  Mr. 
Groezinger  to  make  wine  of. 

The  total  this  rear  is  23  tons  up  to 
last  Saturday.  The  season  began  this 
year  June  24th,  and  is  consequently  a 
little  more  than  half  advanced.  The 
vines  are  picked  eight  times  each  sea- 
son. The  men  work  twelve  hours  a 
day,  commencing  about  six  in  the  morn- 
ing and  working  to  near  seven  at  night 
— a  good  long  time,  certainly,  but  then 
they  take  it  very  leisurely.  The  ber- 
ries as  fast  as  picked  are  brought  in  the 
little  drawers  and  deposited  on  racks  in 
a  kind  of  store-house,  where  they  have 
every  facility  for  coolness  and  ventila- 
tion, awaiting  shipment.  The  draw- 
ers are  in  turn  put  into  chests  holding 
twelve   and   twenty  each,  and   shipped 


twice  a  day  by  morning  and  evening 
train  to  San  Francisco  and  other  points. 
About  three-fourths  of  the  crop  is  usual- 
ly sold  at  the  Bay  City.  As  may  be 
imagined,  it  takes  a  large  number  of 
chests  and  drawers  to  keep  up  the  trans- 
portation. There  are  40  twelve- draw- 
er chests  and  141  twenty-drawer  chests, 
aggregating  2,900  drawers;  and  as  it 
takes  a  double  set  of  the  latter  to  keep 
them  going,  the  Trubodys  have  on 
hand  all  the  time  a  stock  of  5,800  draw- 
ers. 

The  price  of  berries  varies  from  4J  to 
seven  cents,  and  not  averaging  more 
than  five,  or  $100  a  ton,  so  that  the  pro- 
duce of  a  year  is  worth  from  $4,000  to 
$5,000.  The  price  this  year  averages 
two  cents  better  than  last.  These  gen- 
tlemen have  besides  the  Blackberries  a 
ranch  of  some  600  acres,  500  of  which 
are  under  cultivation  to  other  products. 
We  should  have  stated  earlier  in  the 
article  that  the  picking  ceases  at  eight 
o'clock  each  Saturday,  or  as  soon  as 
the  morning  train  passes,  because  all 
picked  after  that  time  would  reach  the 
city  too  late  for  a  market  before  Mon- 
day morning,  when  they  would  be 
spoiled.  The  Messrs.  Trubody  receive 
friends  and  visitors  with  the  greatest 
kindness,  and  none  go  away  with  emp- 
ty stomachs.  We  would  acknowledge 
with  thanks  a  courteous  reception  and 
most  hospitable  entertainment,  as  well 
as  cheerful  assistance  in  giving  all  de- 
sired information. — S.  F.  Chronicle. 


APPLES  OF  SODOM. 


In  ' '  Murray's  Hand-book  for  Syria 
and  Palestine"  we  find  the  following 
most  interesting  description  of  the 
"  Apples  of  Sodom,"  a  figure  frequent- 
ly introduced  into  descriptive  writing: 

"  On  the  plain  of  Engedi  the  traveler 
will  be  able  to  illustrate  for  himself  a 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HORTICULTUKIST. 


315 


remarkable  passage  of  Josephus  relative 
to  the  fruit  called  the  Apples  of  Sodom. 
After  speaking  of  the  conflagration  of 
the  plain  and  the  remaining  marks  of 
the  fire  from  heaven,  he  adds: 

"  There  are  still  to  be  seen  ashes  re- 
produced in  fruits,  which  resemble  eat- 
able fruits  in  color,  but  on  being  pluck- 
ed by  the  hands  are  dissolved  into 
smoke  and  ashes." — (B.  J.,  iv:  8,  4). 
Here  beside  the  rivulet  a  tree  still 
grows  with  a  singular  kind  of  fruit.  Its 
Arab  name  is  osher,  and  the  botanists 
call  it  Asclepias  gigantea.  The  stem  is 
six  or  eight  inches  in  diameter,  and  the 
height  of  the  tree  is  from  ten  to  fifteen 
feet.  It  has  a  grayish  cork- like  bark, 
and  long,  oval  leaves,  which,  when 
broken  off,  discharge  a  milky  fluid.  The 
fruit  resembles  a  large,  smooth  Apple, 
hanging  in  clusters  of  two  or  three,  and 
has  a  fresh,  blooming  appearance; 
when  ripe  it  is  of  a  rich  yellow  color, 
sufficiently  tempting  to  the  thirsty 
traveler.  But  on  being  struck  or  press- 
ed it  explodes  like  a  puff-ball,  leaving 
nothing  in  the  hand  except  the  shreds 
of  the  rind  and  a  few  dry  fibres.  It  is 
chiefly  filled  with  air.  In  the  centre  a 
slender  pod  runs  through  it  from  the 
stem,  and  this  is  connected  by  delicate 
filaments  with  the  rind.  The  pod  con- 
tains a  small  quantity  of  fine  silk  with 
seeds.  The  Arabs  collect  the  silk  and 
twist  it  into  matches  for  their  guns, 
preferring  it  to  the  common  match  be- 
cause it  burns  freely  and  without  sul- 
phur. 

^  i  m 

A  CHANCE  FOE  MEN  OF  SMALL  MEANS. 


It  is  generally  conceded  that  to  make 
a  success  of  Orange-growing  a  man  must 
have  capital.  Land  that  is  suitable  for 
their  culture  and  that  is  well  supplied 
with  water  can  not  be  bought  for  less 
than  one  hundred  dollars  per  acre,  and 


often  costs  more.  The  trees  cost  from 
one  to  three  dollars  each,  according  to 
size,  and  to  prepare  the  ground  and  plant 
out  is  an  expensive  job.  When  all  this 
is  done,  the  trees  must  have  constant 
attention  and  careful  cultivation  for 
eight  or  ten  years,  before  they  will  re- 
turn much  of  an  income.  It  is  there- 
fore plain  that  a  man  who  desires  an 
Orange-orchard,  especially  if  he  is  anx- 
ious to  get  it  as  soon  as  possible,  must 
be  prepared  to  lay  out  a  good  deal  of 
money  at  once,  and  to  continue  laying 
it  out  for  a  number  of  years.  This  be- 
ing the  case,  the  poor  man  may  as  well  at 
once  dismiss  from  his  mind  the  illusion 
that  he  can  come  to  southern  Califor- 
nia, and  in  a  few  years  possess  an  Or- 
ange-orchard of  fabulous  value,  unless 
there  is  some  way  in  which  he  can  make 
his  living  and  make  his  orchard  as  he 
goes  along.  We  believe  there  is  a  way 
for  the  industrious  man  of  small  means. 

There  are  men  within  five  miles  of 
this  city  at  the  present  time,  struggling 
under  a  load  of  debt,  and  trying  to  hold 
on  to  their  Orange-orchards  till  they 
come  into  bearing,  who  yet  do  not  seem 
to  know  that  in  the  cultivation  of  small 
fruits  and  vegetables  is  their  chance  for 
salvation.  They  borrow  money  at  high 
rates  of  interest,  and  potter  around 
waiting  for  their  trees  to  produce,  and 
at  the  same  time  buy  their  vegetables, 
or  do  without. 

It  seems  to  us  that  a  man  with  a  few 
hundred  dollars,  and  a  little  industry, 
can  certainly  make  money  in  a  small 
way,  but  a  sure  one,  by  undertaking  the 
culture  of  small  fruits  and  vegetables. 
If  he  is  ambitious  of  possessing  an  Or- 
ange-orchard, he  can  grow  one  in  the 
meantime.  With  a  few  acres  of  land 
suitable  for  vegetables,  he  can,  with 
hardly  any  additional  expense,  raise  his 
own  trees,  plant  them  out  and  care  for 
them,  and  when  they  have  come  to  ma- 


316 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


turity,  bringing  in  a  good  round  in- 
come, he  will  have  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  they  are  the  reward  of  his 
own  industry,  with  no  mortgage  on  them 
for  capital  invested  that  was  not  his 
own. 

In  this  way,  men  of  energy,  with  a 
few  hundred  dollars  for  a  beginning, 
can  make  a  good  living  and  secure  a 
home  surrounded  by  all  the  associations 
that  cling  to  a  home  made  by  one's  own 
hands. — Semi-Tropical  Farmer. 


FIGS. 

The  production  of  Figs  is  destined 
to  become  an  important  business  in 
California,  as  the  climate  is  very  favor- 
able both  to  the  growth  and  drying  of 
the  fruit;  and  some  of  our  orchardists 
have  acquired  the  skill  of  drying  Figs 
so  well  that  we  prefer  their  flavor  to 
that  of  the  best  brought  from  Smyrna, 
though  they  are  inferior  in  appearance. 
Many  of  the  orchardists,  however,  do 
do  not  succeed  so  well,  and  their  dried 
Figs  are  hard,  dry,  dusty,  and  unpalata- 
ble. The  Sacramento  Record  gives  the 
following  instructions  for  drying: 

"Most  people  suppose  that  there  is 
some  great  secret  in  preserving  Figs, 
and  that  great  skill  is  required  in  their 
manipulation.  To  a  certain  extent  this 
supposition  is  true,  and  yet  when  this 
secret  is  known  and  the  skill  acquired, 
preserving  Figs  becomes  as  simple  and 
easy  as  drying  Apples,  Peaches,  or  any 
other  fruit.  In  the  first  place  the  Fig 
must  be  thoroughly  ripe  before  picking 
to  dry.  It  need  not  be  actually  shriv- 
eled or  wilted,  but  if  left  on  the  tree  till 
this  stage,  does  no  harm.  In  picking 
care  must  be  taken  not  to  jam  or  mash 
the  fruit,  as  this  would  induce  decay 
and  mold  before  the  juices  or  water  can 
be  evaporated.     As  soon  as  picked  the 


Figs  should  be  dipped  in  a  weak  lye 
made  of  wood-ashes,  and  then  carefully 
spread  out  on  a  scaffold  so  that  the 
specimens  will  not  touch  each  other  too 
much,  for  if  one  lies  upon  the  other, 
evaporation  is  to  a  certain  extent  re- 
tarded. The  scaffold  should  be  near 
the  ground  and  in  a  well-exposed  place 
so  that  the  rays  of  the  sun  will  fall  di- 
rectly upon  the  fruit.  A  dark  heavy 
paper  laid  on  the  boards  to  lay  the  Figs 
on  will  be  a  good  thing,  as  it  will  act  as 
an  absorbent  of  the  moisture  that  some- 
times oozes  out.  If  the  fruit  can  be 
covered  nightly  it  will  facilitate  the 
drying  and  add  to  the  quality  of  the 
preserved  fruit,  but  this  is  not  a  neces- 
sity. They  should  be  carefully  turned 
over  as  often  as  every  other  day,  for  a 
few  days,  or  until  they  are  thoroughly 
wilted. 

They  may  then  be  packed  more  close- 
ly together,  or  even  piled  three  or  four 
deep,  but  should  be  moved  or  turned 
over  every  other  day,  so  that  the  drying 
may  be  uniform.  When  the  water  of 
the  fruit  is  well  evaporated  and  the 
juices  seem  pretty  thick,  but  before  the 
fruit  begins  to  seem  hard,  they  should 
be  gathered  up,  placed  in  a  perforated 
dish,  and  dipped  in  boiling  water,  say 
for  half  a  minute.  This  will  soften  the 
skins  and  bring  the  sugar  of  the  fruit 
to  the  surface,  as  on  the  foreign  fruit, 
and  will  at  the  same  time  kill  all  the 
insect  eggs  that  may  have  been  depos- 
ited during  the  drying  process.  They 
should  again  be  exposed  to  the  sun  un- 
til the  water  in  which  they  were  dipped 
is  fully  evaporated,  and  then  they  are 
ready  for  packing.  In  packing,  boxes 
or  vessels  from  which  all  insects  may 
be  excluded  should  be  used.  Lay 
the  fruit  carefully  down  in  layers  and 
press  compactly  together,  and  set  away 
in  a  dry  place.  In  about  two  months5 
time  the  necessary  change  will  have  tak- 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


817 


en  place,  and  the  fruit  will  have  the  fla- 
vor and  appearance  of  the  best  import- 
ed varieties,  and  will  be  ready  for  the 
market.  People  generally  make  the 
mistake  of  drying  the  Fig  too  much  be- 
fore removing  from  the  scaffold,  and 
then  neglect  to  pack  sufficiently  close, 
and  the  result  is  simply  a  dried  but  not 
preserved  Fig.  The  imported  Fig  is 
generally  said  to  be  the  White  Smyrna, 
but  we  have  no  white  Fig  in  this  State 
that  will  produce  as  good  a  preserved 
Fig  as  the  large  black  California  Fig. 
This  variety  is  richer  in  sugar  than  any 
light  variety  we  have  ever  seen  here, 
and  is  better  for  preserving,  and  a  bet- 
ter bearer." 


ABOUT  WILLOWS  AND  WILLOW  WAEE. 

How  many  kinds  of  Osier  are  grown 
for  various  kinds  of  basket-work  ?  Do 
parties  who  grow  the  "Willow  usually  do 
the  manufacturing?  How  much  capi- 
tal is  required  to  run  a  regular  manu- 
factory, apart  from  growing  the  Wil- 
low? Are  there  any  extensive  manu- 
facturers of  Willow- ware  in  the  West  ? 
Can  you  refer  me  to  any  book  or  paper 
that  treats  of  this  industry  at  length? 
■ — N.  J.  H. ,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

Salix  viminalis  is  the  variety  most 
cultivated  and  most  generally  used  in 
the  manufacture  of  Willow-ware.  Its 
straight,  long  slender  branches  are  es- 
pecially adapted  for  this  purpose.  Salix 
fragiles  is  sometimes  cultivated  for  bas- 
ket-work, but  not  extensively,  and  we 
think  rarely  in  this  country.  We  have 
known  Salix  Babylonica  (Weeping  Wil- 
low) to  be  used  for  this  purpose,  but  it 
is  not  as  valuable  in  this  respect  as 
Salix  viminalis.  Germans  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  large  cities  grow  and  manu- 
facture Willow  into  Willow-ware  on  a 
small  scale  individually.  What  capital 
is  required  to  run  a  regular  manufac- 


tory we  can  not  say — it  must,  of  course, 
depend  upon  the  extent  of  the  business 
and  the  character  of  the  ware  manufact- 
ured. We  know  that  Willow-ware  is 
manufactured  in  the  West,  but  nothing 
of  the  extent  of  its  manufacture,  nor  by 
whom.  We  have  no  knowledge  of  any 
work  that  will  aid  our  correspondent. — 

Exchange. 

♦■ — 

TROPICAL  PLANTS  FOR  ORNAMENTAL 
PURPOSES,  ETC. 

Among  the  great  variety,  I  would 
mention  some  of  the  Palm  family,  and 
first,  the  Corypha  Auslralis,  or  in  com- 
mon parlance,  the  Australian  Cabbage 
Palm;  the  C'ycas  revoluta,  or  Sago  Palm; 
the  foliage  is  most  graceful.  Isaboea 
spectabilis  produces  a  sweet  syrup  called 
Palm-honey,  used  for  domestic  purpos- 
es. The  nuts  are  used  by  confection- 
ers, and  by  the  boys  as  marbles.  The 
leaves  are  employed  for  thatching  roofs, 
etc.,  while  the  trunk,  which  is  hollow 
and  very  hard,  is  converted  into  an  ex- 
cellent water-pipe  for  the  purposes  of 
irrigation,  etc. 

But  the  most  available  tree  for  orna- 
ment and  use,  with  which  I  am  famil- 
iar, is  the  celebrated  Bahia  or  Naval 
Orange,  the  king  of  Oranges,  without 
pulp  or  seeds,  smooth  and  thin-skinned, 
the  flavor  most  delicious.  And  last, 
but  not  least,  is  the  Passiflora  or  Grane- 
dellis,  and  the  Garabalda  and  Chinese 
Peach,  the  former  of  which  is  not  only 
graceful  as  an  ornament  but  produces 
abundance  of  fruit  every  month  in  the 
year — in  this  respect  like  the  Naval  Or- 
ange. The  smaller  variety  is  the  best 
fruiter,  and  resembles  Strawberries  and 
cream.  It  also  forms  a  delightful  shade 
for  balconies,  verandas,  or  out-houses, 
etc.,  being  one  of  the  greatest  runners, 
and  will  make  its  way  over  the  house- 
top, if  allowed  so  to  do. — Los  Angeles 
Herald. 


318 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOETICULTURIST. 


mitixM  gwttoito. 


CALIFORNIA   STRAWBERRIES. 


We  are  now  reaching  the  end  of  the 
season  for  this,  one  of  the  most  deli- 
cious of  all  fruits.  Yet  we  can  hardly 
speak  of  its  final  non-production  for  the 
year  here,  when  some  can  be  had  very 
nearly  every  month  in  our  genial  and 
mild  climate.  But  still  the  quantity 
varies  according  to  circumstances  at 
different  times  of  the  year,  the  greatest 
quantity  being  obtained  from  about 
May  to  August. 

The  first  that  appears  in  market  is 
the  sort  called  Long  worth's  Prolific, 
originated  by  one  of  the  tenants  of 
that  great  patron  of  Horticulture,  near 
Cincinnati.  It  is  immensely  productive, 
thirty  to  forty  well-ripened  berries  be- 
ing sometimes  seen  on  one  truss.  It 
suits  the  climate  of  California  better 
than  "Wilson's  Albany,  the  latter  being 
more  hardy  for  the  Eastern  States,  and 
at  the  same  time  very  productive.  The 
Longworth  Prolific  lasts  longer  here 
than  any  other  kind  we  cultivate.  It  is 
irregular  in  its  form,  but  of  rich  color, 
and  of  second-rate  flavor  as  compared 
with  some  others. 

The  next  sort  that  follows  the  Prolif- 
ic is  the  Jucunda.  It  is  very  large, 
bright  scarlet,  flesh  rosy,  and  does  well 
in  rather  compact  deep  clayish  or  adobe 
loams,  but  requires  high  culture.  Then 
follows  the  British  Queen.  This  is 
large,  productive,  rich,  juicy,  sweet, 
and  of  excellent  flavor;  requires  a  deep 
rich  soil.  The  American  Girl,  which 
follows  in  rotation,  is  of  a  good  size, 
light  red,  round,  very  juicy,  and  not 
very  good  for  carriage,  being  delicate 
in  texture. 

Hovey's  Seedling  is  the  next.  It  is 
an  old  seedling  originated  in  1834;  of 
very  large  size  when  in  suitable  soil; 


form  roundish  ovate,  a  little  conical, 
with  a  short  neck,  never  cockscomb - 
shaped  in  the  largest  berries;  color, 
dark  rich  shining  red;  flesh  firm  and 
scarlet,  nearly  solid,  abounding  with  a 
most  agreeable  acid,  and  exceedingly 
delicious. 

The  British  Strawberries  suit  the  cli- 
mate of  California  better  than  they  do 
the  East,  because  the  climate  of  Britain 
is  more  moderate  than  the  eastern.  The 
famous  Keen's  Seedling  of  England  was 
raised  from  the  Hovey's  Seedling.  The 
Victoria  comes  next  with  us,  a  very 
large,  handsome,  rich  berry.  And  last- 
ly the  Black  Prince,  very  fine,  of  round 
form,  and  deep  red  color. 

The  cause  of  there  being  such  an  un- 
usually large  supply  of  Strawberries  in 
market  at  this  time,  is,  that  the  parties 
who  have  raised  them  at  San  Jose  and 
Santa  Clara,  have  paid  extra  attention 
to  keeping  up  their  plants  by  irrigation, 
good  cultivation,  etc.  Their  success 
will  no  doubt  induce  other  culturists 
of  the  Strawberry  to  pay  especial  care 
to  their  plants,  next  year,  for  the  same 
purpose.  The  sort  so  successfully  cul- 
tivated and  now  so  plentiful  in  our  mar- 
kets, is  Hovey's  Seedling.  It  is  of 
good  size,  though  perhaps  of  not  so 
fine  a  flavor  as  it  always  possesses 
when  it  has  had  the  benefit  of  the  nat- 
ural watering  from  the  rains. 


WHITE  WATER  LILIES  (JSTymphcea  odorata) . 

Nothing  surely  can  exceed  the  simple 
elegance,  the  unpretending  grandeur  of 
these  beautiful  aquatics.  They  are  the 
lovely  naiads  of  our  eastern  streams, 
ponds,  and  lakes.  There  are  many  va- 
rieties of  them,  native  and  exotic.  All 
should  be  planted  in  tubs  of  loam, 
leaving  five  or  six  inches  for  the  water, 
which   should    be  changed    before    it 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


319 


becomes  foul.  About  three  months 
since  we  received  from  J.  E.  S.  Crandall, 
Rockville,  R.  I.,  six  bulbs  of  the  spe- 
cies named  above.  "We  planted  them 
as  directed,  and  they  are  doing  well, 
and  will  we  hope  soon  bloom  in  abund- 
ance. Mr.  Crandall  has  had  orders  for 
these  bulbs  from  several  of  our  florists 
here.  They  have  arrived  in  good  con- 
dition, and  are  growing  in  tubs  and 
tanks,  and  it  is  hoped  they  will  shortly 
be  in  bloom  to  delight  the  eyes  of  flor- 
ists, as  well  as  of  the  public  at  large. 

But  the  locations  where  the  Nymphoea 
odorata  grow  and  show  their  flowers  in 
the  greatest  perfection,  are  in  warm 
and  sheltered  places  similar  to  San  Ra- 
fael, and  other  inland  towns.  In  some 
ponds  in  or  near  San  Rafael  they  are 
flourishing  finely.  They  have  not  been 
found  as  yet  to  thrive  so  well  in  our  too 
cool  and  windy  city  of  San  Francisco — 
but  it  is  probable  that  it  is  on  account 
of  this  comparatively  cold  climate  that 
they  have  made  much  slower  growth 
than  in  the  interior  of  the  State. 


FRONTISPIECE. 


Our  present  number  is,  as  our  read- 
ers will  no  doubt  readily  admit,  brill- 
iantly and  handsomely  embellished  by 
the  richly  colored  and  choice  specimen 
of  the  genus  Clematis  (natural  order 
Ranunculacece.  This  variety  is  called 
Clematis  Jackmanii.  The  discovery  of 
Sieboldt  added  several  species  to  this 
family,  remarkable  for  its  gracefulness, 
delicious  fragrance,  and  poetical  asso- 
ciations. The  whole  of  them  are  quite 
hardy,  preferring  to  grow  in  strong 
rich  soil,  and  are  highly  useful  for  cov- 
ering walls,  arbors,  shaded  walks,  etc., 
which  they  do  speedily  when  once  es- 
tablished. Propagation  is  effected  by 
laying  the  young  shoots  in  summer,  or 
by   root-grafting  in   spring;  the   latter 


method  is  only  employed  with  the 
scarcer  kinds.  The  following  are 
among  a  selection  of  some  suited  to  the 
garden:  fiamula,  white;  grandifiora, 
blue;  fiorida  pleno,  white;  Simsii,  pur- 
ple; Sieboldii,  blue  and  white;  and  the 
beauty  before  us,  of  the  most  vivid  pur- 
ple, and  very  large. 


FBUITS  EXHIBITED   AT  THE  FAIE. 

The  display  of  Grapes  from  George 
West — of  many  kinds,  but  chiefly  for 
wine  of  the  best  quality — was  very  fine. 
They  were  from  his  large  "El  Pinal 
Vineyard,"  near  Stockton.  We  noticed 
especially  a  very  choice  kind,  the  Co- 
rinth or  Seedless  Grape,  and  the  Laga 
or  One-seeded  Grape;  also,  the  famous 
Scharass,  for  raisins.  These  Grapes 
from  this  Stockton  nursery  and  vine- 
yard formed  a  choice  and  superior  col- 
lection, remarkable  for  the  large  size  of 
the  bunches,  showing  careful  growth. 

The  collection  of  Dr.  J.  Strentzel, 
from  the  • '  Alhambra  Gardens  "  at  Mar- 
tinez, was  gorgeous  and  brilliant,  ex- 
hibiting the  complete  science  of  culti- 
vation for  which  the  doctor  is  remarka- 
ble. A  grand  cluster  of  twelve  and  a 
half  pounds  weight  was  the  largest  and 
best  ever  yet  shown.  The  Peaches,  Ap- 
ples, Oranges,  Lemons,  Limes,  and 
Pomegranates  were  superb  specimens. 
The  Grapes  were  chiefly  the  best  kinds 
suitable  for  the  table. 

The  table  of  H.  W.  Crabbe,  of  Oak- 
ville,  Napa  County,  truly  showed  what 
the  rich  and  beautiful  valley  of  Napa 
was  capable  of  producing,  although  the 
bunches  were  not  generally  quite  so 
large  as  in  the  two  collections  noticed 
above.  But  this  collection  embraced  a 
larger  variety  than  in  the  two  spoken 
of,  having  eighty-six  dishes  of  grapes, 
more  than  half  of  which  comprised  dif- 
ferent species,  with  some  large  suspend- 


320 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


ed  clusters;  seven  dishes  of  extra-fine 
Peaches,  and  one  of  Apricots,  with  two 
extremely  gigantic  samples  of  Duchess 
and  Vicar  of  "Wakefield  Pears.  Among 
the  Grapes  was  a  collection  of  American 
Grapes,  now  becoming  numerous  in 
their  new  seedlings. 

T.  O'Connor  &  Co.  presented  import- 
ed Seedless  Oranges,  and  other  tropical 
fruits. 

The  miscellaneous  show  of  Grapes 
and  fruits  from  the  beautiful  and  exten- 
sive estate  of  "  Oak  Knoll,"  the  proper- 
ty of  R.  B.  "Woodward,  was  very  good, 
comprising  some  superior  specimens. 

J.  S.  Campbell,  of  Solano  County, 
exhibited  large  and  good  specimens  of 
the  Mission  Grape. 

The  great  Santa  Barbara  Vine,  of  the 
old  Mission  variety,  twelve  feet  high  to 
the  branches,  and  more  than  four  feet 
in  circumference,  is  now  being  put  up 
in  the  garden  at  the  Fair,  with  all  its 
wide-spreading  branches  complete;  to 
be  taken  afterward  to  the  Centennial 
Exposition  at  Philadelphia. 


>  »  »  i  < 


CATALOGUES  EECEIVED. 


From  John  Saul,  nurseryman,  seed- 
grower,  florist  and  importer,  "Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  "  Descriptive  Catalogue  No. 
7,  of  Hyacinths,  Tulips,  Crocus,  Narcis- 
sus, and  other  Bulbous  Flower  Roots," 
with  a  choice  selection  of  winter-bloom- 
ing plants  for  autumn,  1875.  Mr.  Saul 
has  imported  direct,  in  large  quantities, 
over  twenty  years  from  the  most  cele- 
brated growers  in  Holland,  and  his 
bulbs  may  be  depended  upon  as  the 
best  of  their  respective  kinds. 

From  A.  Bryant,  Junior,  proprietor, 
his  wholesale  price-list  of  his  nurseries, 
Princeton,  111.,  for  fall  of  1875,  and 
catalogue  for  1875  and  spring  of  1876, 


unless  a  new  list  is  issued.  This  nur- 
sery was  established  in  1845. 

Also  received,  with  thanks  (with  kind 
compliments  of  Col.  Jas.  "W.  Abert), 
"  Contributions  from  the  Laboratory  of 
the  School  of  Mines,  by  Chas.  P.  Will- 
iams, Ph.  D.,  Director  and  Professor 
of  Analytical  Chemistry  and  Metallur- 
gy-" 

Also,  from  Col.  James  "W.  Abert, 
"  University  of  Missouri,  School  of 
Mines  and  Metallurgy,  Roll  a,  Phelps 
County,  Missouri.  Announcement  and 
Register  for  year  ending,  June  17th, 
1875." 

"We  acknowledge  with  thanks  the  re- 
ceipt of  a  pamphlet  entitled  "The  Re- 
lation of  the  Patent  Laws  to  American 
Agriculture,  Arts  and  Industries,"  be- 
ing the  annual  address  before  the  New 
York  Society  of  Practical  Engineers, 
delivered  September  7th,  1875,  by  the 
President,  James  A.  "Whitney. 


EXCHANGE  TA.BLE. 


The  Semi-Tropical,  the  first  number  of 
a  monthly  journal  devoted  to  Agricult- 
ure, Horticulture,  and  Immigration,  ed- 
ited by  Harrison  Reed,  and  published 
at  Jacksonville,  Florida.  It  is  got  up 
very  handsomely  as  to  printing,  paper, 
etc.  The  articles  are  interesting,  use- 
ful, well  written,  and  of  varied  charac- 
ter, and  the  work  gives  promise  of  util- 
ity, amusement,  and  value,  upon  the 
subjects  and  points  of  which  it  treats. 


A  New  Seedling  Gekanium.  —  From 
an  amateur  grower  in  Oakland  we  have 
received  a  sample  of  a  new  seedling  Ge- 
ranium, which  appears  to  us  worthy  of 
propagation.  The  plant  is  a  natural 
hybrid  from  the  Lady  "Washington  and 
so-called  Sandwich  Island  Geranium, 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


321 


the  last-named  being  a  creeping  varie- 
ty. The  flowers  of  the  new  plant  are 
of  medium  size,  of  a  delicious  rosy  pink 
shading  off  at  the  centre  nearly  white, 
and  delicately  penciled  with  purple.  It 
is  a  free  bloomer.  The  leaves  and  stems 
exhale  a  very  pleasant  spicy  odor,  be- 
coming more  powerful  on  pressure.  In 
habit  the  plant  is  prostrate,  like  the 
Sandwich  Island  parent;  some  of  the 
branches  are  five  feet  long.  This  hab- 
it will  doubtless  suggest  a  variety  of 
uses  to  experienced  cultivators. 


American  Pomological  Society. — We 
have  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  the 
address  delivered  at  the  fifteenth  ses- 
sion of  this  Society,  held  in  Chicago, 
111.,  by  that  noble  patriarch  of  Horti- 
culture, Honorable  Marshall  P.  Wilder, 
President  of  the  Society.  This  admira- 
ble, instructive,  and  enlightened  address 
on  horticultural  and  pomological  sub- 
jects we  find  imbued  with  the  same 
spirit,  energy,  and  wisdom  which  has 
ever  distinguished  all  that  has  ever  em- 
anated^ from  the  same  zealous  and  ever- 
flowing  source,  either  by  word  or  writ- 
ing. No  doubt  this  address  was  highly 
appreciated  by  all  who  heard  it  deliver- 
ed, as  well  as  by  those  who  have  had 
the  good  fortune  to  possess  it  in  its 
published  form,  and  who  had  not  the 
happiness  of  being  present  at  the  im- 
portant session  of  this  eminent  national 
society  for  the  advancement  of  pomolo- 
gy- _•'._ 

Seedless  Watermelons. — The  Sutter 
(Cal.)  Banner  says:  "  We  are  informed 
by  Mr.  Wm.  Mawson,  one  of  the  cham- 
pion Watermelon  growers  of  Sutter 
County,' of  a  novel  way  of  producing 
seedless  Watermelons.  When  the  vine 
begins  to  bear  he  lets  the  first  Water- 
melon on  each  branch  grow  undisturb- 


ed, but  covers  the  branch  up  with  dirt, 
from  the  first  Melon  to  the  second  one; 
within  six  inches  or  more  from  the 
end  of  the  vine  will  be  a  seedless  Wa- 
termelon, the  Melon  nearest  the  body 
of  the  vine  having  kept  all  the  seed." 


FKUIT  CULTIVATION,  AND 

EEPOKT  ON  THE  FKUIT  AND  VEGETA- 

TABLE  MAKKET. 

BY   E.    J.    HOOPEE. 

The  time  will  soon  arrive  to  plant 
fruit-trees.  If  newly  set  trees  of  mod- 
erate size  have  been  well  dug  up,  with 
plenty  of  roots,  and  the  roots  well 
spread  on  every  side,  they  will  main- 
tain a  stiff,  upright  position,  and  need 
no  additional  staking  or  stiffening.  But 
they  do  not  always  receive  such  atten- 
tion; and  in  this  case  they  may  need 
straightening  up.  Hardly  anything  can 
be  worse  for  a  tree  than  the  bending 
about  in  the  earth  by  the  strong  winds 
of  this  coast.  This  caution  also  applies 
to  all  shrubbery,  and  even  flowers 
planted  out,  especially  in  this  city. 
Fruit-trees  will  sometimes  stand  pretty 
well  till  the  leaves  come  out  in  spring, 
after  which,  of  course,  the  winds  have 
more  purchase  on  them,  and  staking 
may  be  required;  at  any  rate  it  is  best 
to  examine  whether  the  earth  is  always 
sufficiently  firm  round  their  stems.  Or- 
chardists  are  familiar  with  the  disease 
that  sometimes  affects  the  bark  of  near- 
ly all  kinds  of  fruit-trees  on  their  bare 
trunks,  especially  standard  Pear-trees, 
particularly  at  the  south  and  west, 
where  there  is  so  much  sun  at  midday. 
Some  fruit-growers  protect  their  trees 
against  the  hot  sun  by  adjuncting  a 
board  to  shield  them  from  the  2  o'clock 
rays,  with  entire  success,  until  the  low- 
er branches  grow  long  and  thick  enough 
to  form  a  sufficient  screen. 


322 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


In  young  orchards  it  is  best  not  to 
trust  at  all  to  memory  or  perishing  la- 
bels, to  know  bow  many  trees  or  rows 
of  Baldwins,  etc.,  are  set  on  tbis  side, 
or  bow  many  Bellflowers,  etc.,  on  tbat 
side  of  the  orchard,  or  what  kinds  are 
placed  in  the  different  parts  of  the 
fruit  garden.  Every  tree  should  be 
registered  carefully  and  accurately — 
first  in  a  memorandum  book,  or  on  a 
slip  of  paper,  to  be  copied  afterward 
in  an  account-book  or  some  other  book 
which  should  always  be  at  hand;  or  it  is 
better  to  have  a  blank-book,  expressly 
for  a  garden  and  orchard  record,  where 
the  place  of  every  tree  is  noted,  as  well 
as  other  planting  and  experiments. 
Then,  when  the  trees  begin  to  bear,  it 
will  not  be  necessary  to  call  on  others 
to  ask  them  the  name  of  this  Apple  and 
that  Pear,  with  a  fair  chance  of  half 
being  named  wrong,  and  endless  con- 
fusion in  sorts  as  a  consequence.  If 
people  want  labels,  after  several  years' 
trial,  we  have  found  nothing  so  cheap, 
simple,  convenient  and  durable  as  pieces 
of  sheet  tin  for  permanent  labels  on 
bearing  fruit-trees.  They  may  be  seven 
or  eight  inches  long,  an  inch  or  so 
wide  at  the  larger  end,  and  tapering 
nearly  to  a  point  at  the  other.  Neither 
the  breadth  nor  the  length  requires  ac- 
curacy. They  are  cut  out  of  scrap  tin, 
and  may  be  made  afc  the  rate  of  a  dol- 
lar and  a  half  per  thousand,  or  at  a  less 
cost.  To  write  the  name,  lay  the  label 
on  a  table  or  board,  and  make  the  let- 
ters with  the  point  of  an  awl  or  of  a 
file  ground  to  a  sharp  point,  pressing 
firmly  while  writing.  Each  label  is 
placed  on  the  side  limb  of  the  tree,  by 
bending  the  smaller  end  once  or  once 
and  a  half  around  it.  The  work  is  then 
done — in  less  time  than  the  reader  has 
occupied  in  reading  these  directions. 
Nothing  further  is  necessary  for  many 
years.     The  point  used  for  writing  the 


letters  scrapes  away  the  tin  coating,  and 
admits  the  moisture  or  rain  to  the 
iron,  rusting  it  and  rendering  the  let- 
ters conspicuous.  As  the  limb  increases 
in  size,  the  tin  yields  to  the  pressure 
and  never  cuts  the  bark,  and  is  at  the 
same  time  stiff  enough  to  hold  on  and 
prevent  the  label  being  removed  by  the 
wind. 

At  the  beginnning  of  last  month 
(September)  there  was  an  abundant 
supply  of  fruit  and  vegetables,  but  the 
retail  market  lacked  buoyancy. 

There  was  an  unusual  quantity  of 
Strawberries  received  during  the  first 
and  second  weeks  of  the  above  month, 
and  they  retailed  as  low  as  20c.  per  lb. 
They  were  fine  and  of  large  size,  and  of 
good  quality. 

All  varieties  of  Grapes  were  then  in 
season,  with  prices  unchanged,  except- 
ing in  the  Case  of  Flame  and  White 
Tokay,  the  former  retailing  at  10c.  to 
12^0.  per  lb.,  and  the  latter  at  6c.  to 
Sc.  Several  lots  of  Bartlett  Pears  were 
received  from  Oregon  during  the  week, 
but  they  were  far  inferior  to  the  Califor- 
nia Bartletts,  and  sold  for  less  money. 
The  latter  retailed  at  8c.  per  lb.  Seckel 
Pears  were  quoted  at  6c.  Peaches  con- 
tinued firm  at  6c.  to  12^c,  and  Quinces 
at  10c.  to  12|c.  But  few  Blackberries 
were  to  be  bad.  Nectarines  were  still 
quoted  at  5c.  to  8c.  Pomegranates  re- 
tailed at  3  for  25c.  or  $1  per  doz.,  and 
Cocoanuts  at  15c.  to  20c.  each.  Ger- 
man Prunes  were  selling  at  10c.  per  lb.; 
Italian  do.,  12Jc;  Washington  Plums, 
6c.  to  8c;  Damsons,  6c.  to  8c. 

Rhubarb  was  quoted  at  6c.  per  lb., 
Chile  Peppers,  15e. ;  Garlic,  15c. ;  Okra, 
15c. ;  Egg  Plant,  6c. ;  Horseradish,  25c. ; 
Summer  Squash,  5c.  to  6c;  Winter  do., 
lc.  to  2c;  Green  Corn,  15c  to  25c  per 
dozen;  Artichokes,  50c;  Kale,  50c; 
Watermelons,  10c  to  15c.  each;  and 
Cantaloupes,  10c  to  15c  each. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


323 


About  the  middle  of  last  month 
( September )  Strawberries  were  still 
more  abundant  than  they  were  at  the 
beginning  of  the  month.  They  were 
of  good  size  and  quality,  and  were  sold 
from  10c.  to  15c.  per  pound.  The  dis- 
play of  Grapes  was  the  most  striking 
feature  at  the  fruit-stalls.  All  the  vari- 
eties grown  in  the  State  were  to  be 
found  in  the  greatest  abundance. 
Blackberries  went  out  of  the  market 
about  the  above-mentioned  time.  Bart- 
lett  Pears  were  scarce  at  10c.  to  15c. 
Quinces  retailed  at  6c.  to  8c.  per  lb.; 
Pomegranates,  6c.  to  10c.  each;  Prunes 
and  Plums  were  less  plentiful  at  6c.  to 
mc.  per  lb. 

At  the  Fair  there  were  three  fine  dis- 
plays of  Grapes;  also  exhibits  of  Ap- 
ples, Pears,  Peaches  and  Pomegran- 
ates, Oranges  and  Lemons,  grown  in 
the  middle  and  northern  parts  of  the 
State.  We  observed  one  bunch  of 
Grapes  at  the  Fair,  of  the  Tokay  vari- 
ety, which  weighed  12J-  pounds.  An- 
other cargo  of  Tahiti  Oranges  arrived 
on  the  21st  of  last  month,  in  good  con- 
dition, but  owing  to  the  immense  quan- 
tity of  other  fruits  in  market  the  de- 
mand for  them  was  slack. 

There  is  no  diminution  in  the  supply 
of  vegetables.  On  the  contrary  Toma- 
toes are  more  plentiful  than  at  any  pre- 
vious time  during  the  season.  Summer 
Squash  is  retailing  at  5c.  to  6c;  Egg 
Plant,  8c.  to  10c. ;  Chile  Peppers,  12^c ; 
Rhubarb,  6c;  Horseradish,  20  to  25c; 
Marrowfat  Squash,  2c  to  3c;  Green 
Corn,  15c  to  25c;  Artichokes,  50c; 
Kale,  50c;  Watermelons,  15c  to  25c; 
Cantaloupes,  15c  to  25c;  Brussels 
Sprouts  are  again  in  market,  selling  at 
5c  to  6c. 


A  persistent  use  of  sulphur  is  said  to 
cure  mildew  in  Roses. 


(gditorial  iBUaningsi. 


The  Cochineal  Insect  of  California. 
— At  a  meeting  of  the  San  Francisco 
Microscopical  Society,  an  interesting 
and  important  communication  was  re- 
ceived from  Henry  Edwards,  describ- 
ing a  curious  insect  recently  discovered 
by  him,  and  which  he  believes  to  be  a 
species  of  the  cochineal  insect.  Mr. 
Edwards  states  that  during  a  recent  vis- 
it to  Grass  Valley  and  Nevada  City  he 
found  the  bushes  of  Manzanita  covered 
with  a  species  of  coccus,  resembling 
closely  in  form  and  size  the  species  so 
valuable  in  commerce,  from  which  is 
produced  the  exquisite  pigment,  car- 
mine, and  known  to  naturalists  as  coc- 
cus cacti.  For  miles  and  miles  along 
the  road  the  leaves  of  the  Manzanita 
were  covered  with  these  creatures,  and 
it  struck  him  that  some  commercial  im- 
portance might  be  attached  to  the  in- 
sect, as  it  seems  to  abound  in  immense 
numbers.  Most  of  the  members  of  the 
genus  are  in  some  way  or  other  quite 
valuable,  the  "lac  insect"  of  China  be- 
ing one  of  them;  and  it  is  quite  possible 
that  we  have  in  California  a  source  of 
profit  furnished  to  us  by  the  insect 
world  as  yet  unknown  and  unrecorded. 
A  few  specimens  of  both  sexes,  the  male 
being  winged  and  the  female  the  pro- 
ducer of  the  dye,  were  presented  for 
the  inspection  of  the  society,  that  mem- 
bers might  subject  them  to  chemical  an- 
alysis, and  discover  if  any  dye  could  be 
extracted  from  them.  The  abundance 
of  Manzanita  in  the  foot-hills  would, 
if  such  were  the  case,  render  their  culti- 
vation quite  easy,  and  no  real  obstacle 
could  exist  to  the  introduction  of  this 
valuable  and  interesting  addition  to  the 
commercial  product  of  the  State.  Mr. 
Edwards  concluded  by  expressing  the 
belief  that  the  species  is  unknown  to 
science,  and  he  designed  preparing  a 


324 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


description,  under  the  name  of  Coccus 
arctostaphylos. 


Flokal  Insanity  Laudable. — Whoev- 
er has  heard  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
preach  or  lecture,  or  read  a  tithe  of  his 
writings,  knows  that  he  is  a  great  lover 
of  flowers,  his  passion  for  and  knowl- 
edge of  them  being  such  that  they  are 
very  frequently  introduced  in  his  de- 
scriptions and  illustrations.  In  a  late 
number  of  the  London  Garden  we  find 
some  remarks  touching  floral  insanity 
which  are  expressed  in  Mr.  B's  enthu- 
siastic and  characteristic  style: 

"Boses  are  easy  of  culture,  easy  of 
propagation,  requiring  almost  as  little 
care  as  Dandelions  or  Daisies.  The  won- 
der is  that  every  man  is  not  an  enthusi- 
ast, and  in  the  month  of  June  a  gentle 
fanatic.  Floral  insanity  is  one  of  the 
most  charming  afflictions  to  which  man 
is  heir  !  One  wishes  never  to  be  cured, 
nor  should  any  one  wish  to  cure  him. 
The  garden  is  infectious.  Flowers  are 
■  catching/  or  the  love  of  them  is. 
Men  begin  with  one  or  two.  In  a  few 
years  they  are  struck  through  with  flor- 
al zeal.  Not  bees  are  more  sedulous  in 
their  researches  into  flowers  than  many 
a  man  is,  and  one  finds,  after  the  strife 
and  heat  and  toil  of  his  ambitious  life, 
that  there  is  more  pure  satisfaction  in 
his  garden  than  in  all  the  other  pursuits 
that  promise  so  much  of  pleasure  and 
yield  so  little.  *  *  *  A  man  is  not  al- 
ways to  be  trusted  because  he  loves  fine 
horses  or  because  he  follows  the  stream 
or  hunts  in  the  fields.  But  if  a  man 
that  loves  flowers  and  loves  them  enough 
to  labor  for  them  is  not  to  be  trusted, 
to  whom  in  this  wicked  world  shall  we  go 
for  trust  ?  A  man  that  carries  a  garden 
in  his  heart  has  got  back  again  a  part 
of  the  Eden  from  which  our  great  fore- 
father was  expelled." 


Deeer's  Improved  Lima  Bean.  —  This 
Bean  is  the  product  of  the  green  wrin- 
kled variety  obtained  from  Mr.  H.  Kini- 
ber,  of  Kimberton,  Chester  County, 
Pa.,  about  thirty  years  ago.  Selections 
of  the  best  specimens  were  annually 
made  for  seed  until  the  Bean  has  in- 
creased in  early  maturity  and  size,  and 
established  the  present  standard  charac- 
ter. 

The  distinctive  features  of  this  sort 
are  early  maturity,  prolificness,  and  ex- 
tra quality  of  Bean;  containing  more 
saccharine  matter  and  producing  one- 
third  more  shelled  Beans  to  the  pole 
than  the  large  Lima,  while  the  shelling 
becomes  an  easy  matter,  from  the  fact 
of  the  pods  being  entirely  full  of  beans, 
forming  one  against  the  other  like  Peas 
in  a  pod. 

The  American  Agriculturist  says :  "In 
these  Beans  the  pods  are  not  only  full, 
with  no  spaces  between,  but  are  as  full 
as  they  can  stick,  the  seeds  so  crowd- 
ing one  another  that  the  ends  of  the 
central  Bean  are  square;  the  Bean  is 
also  much  thicker  than  the  ordinary 
kind.  A  vine  of  this  kind,  bearing  the 
same  number  of  pods  as  one  of  the  or- 
dinary variety,  would,  we  should  judge, 
yield  nearly  if  not  twice  as  much  in 
shelled  Beans.  The  pods  being  so  com- 
pletely filled,  the  shelling  becomes  an 
easy  matter,  and  the  Beans  when  cook- 
ed are  much  superior  to  the  ordinary 
ones,  as  the  amount  of  skins  is  much 
smaller  in  proportion  to  the  inclosed 
nutriment. 

"  We  regard  the  improving  of  this 
Bean  as  one  of  the  most  important  of 
recent  contributions  to  Horticulture." 


Centinela  Orange -grove.  —  The  Los 
Angeles  Express  of  June  11th  says :  "It 
probably  is  not  generally  known,  but 
this  young  grove  will  be  the  largest 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


325 


Orange-orchard  in  one  inclosure  in  the 
world.  It  covers  nearly  three  hundred 
acres  of  the  choicest  land  in  the  Centi- 
nela  valley,  and  contains  some  13,000 
Orange-trees  nearly  five  years  old.  Be- 
tween the  rows  are  planted  some  2,500 
Almond-trees,  now  three  years  old.  The 
Almonds  will  bear  this  year,  and  will 
bear  about  six  pounds  per  tree.  In 
two  years  they  will  easily  yield  twelve 
pounds  per  tree,  or  $6,000.  Two  thou- 
sand Lime-trees  four  years  old  are  in 
this  orchard,  and  they  will  in  two  years 
yield  $5  per  tree,  or  $10,000.  The  Al- 
monds will  be  dug  up  as  soon  as  the 
Oranges  begin  bearing.  In  the  mean- 
time, they  will  defray  the  entire  ex- 
pense of  attending  to  the  orchard.  The 
Orange-trees  will  commence  bearing  in 
five  years.  Two  years  later  it  is  reason- 
able to  suppose  they  will  yield  1,000 
Oranges  to  the  tree,  which  at  one  cent 
apiece  would  give  an  income  of  $130,- 
000.  As  they  will  hardly  ever  sell  for 
less  than  one  and  a  half  to  two  cents 
apiece,  an  income  of  $200,000  to  $250,- 
000  from  the  Centinela  Orange-grove  is 
quite  a  reasonable  expectation.  The 
fruit  will  be  of  a  fine  quality,  as  the 
Oranges  grown  at  the  Centinela  Ranch 
House  are  large  and  luscious. 


Everlasting  Flowers.  —  The  flowers 
known  as  "  Everlastings  "  are  so  desira- 
ble for  forming  wreaths  and  bouquets 
for  winter  decorations,  that  a  small 
place  should  be  set  apart  for  their  cul- 
tivation in  all  gardens,  and  even  now  it 
is  not  too  late  to  plant  a  few  of  them  in 
the  border  where  they  are  to  bloom,  and 
as  they  require  only  the  most  simple 
treatment  and  will  thrive  exceedingly 
well  in  any  ordinary  soil,  a  place  can  be 
found  for  them  among  the  vegetables; 
for  if  the  soil  is  too  rich  they  will  grow 
too  vigorously,  and  not  produce  as  ma- 


ny flowers  as  is  desirable.  Sow  the 
seed  very  sparsely,  and  if  they  come  up 
too  thickly,  thin  out  at  least  six  or 
eight  inches  apart.  The  Helichiysums 
will  require  from  ten  to  twelve  inches 
of  soil  to  produce  strong  plants.  From 
a  medium-sized  bed  of  these  flowers  a 
large  supply  can  be  obtained,  which 
cost  several  dollars  if  purchased  in  the 
winter,  while  the  seeds  can  be  procured 
at  a  cheap  rate.  The  flowers  should  al- 
ways be  cut  in  small  bunches,  which 
should  be  hung  up  in  a  warm,  dark 
closet,  heads  downward,  to  dry.  They 
can  be  kept  there  until  needed  for  mak- 
ing winter  decorations.  If  their  col- 
ors are  not  bright  enough  they  can  be 
dyed  with  "domestic  dyes."  Dried 
grasses,  which  should  be  gathered  now 
before  their  blossoms  fully  expand,  and 
treated  like  the  Everlasting  flowers,  are 
very  useful  for  mingling  with  them  in 
bouquets  and  wreaths. 


The  Cocoa-tree. — The  Cocoa-tree,  so 
often  confounded  with  the  Cocoanut- 
tree,  is  about  equal  to  a  good  sized  Ap- 
ple-tree; the  pod  that  incases  the  bean, 
of  which  chocolate  is  made,  is  about  the 
shape  of  a  Lemon,  but  three  times  as 
large,  and  is  of  a  deep  orange  color — 
the  kind  called  "  Caraccas  "  Cocoa  is  so 
deep  as  to  be  almost  red.  The  pods 
grow  on  the  branches,  and  on  the  stem 
quite  down  to  the  ground.  The  branches 
do  not  grow  low,  so  that  looking  down 
on  a  piece  of  Cocoa  ground,  the  vista  is 
like  a  miniature  forest  hung  with  thou- 
sands of  golden  lamps.  Anything  more 
lovely  can  not  be  imagined;  it  is  per- 
fectly unique.  After  the  pods  are 
picked  they  are  cut  open  with  a  cutlass; 
the  beans,  which  are  tightly  packed  to- 
gether, and  from  forty  to  eighty  in 
number,  are  dried  in  drawers  in  the  sun, 
after  having  gone  through  a  process 


326 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICTJLTUKIST. 


called  "sweating,"  which  is  being  pack- 
ed close  in  a  barrel  and  covered  over. 
When  the  Cocoa  is  thoroughly  dried  it 
is  put  into  bags,  each  containing  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  and  shipped. 


The  Flora  of  Madagascar.  —  Near 
the  rivers,  or  in  damp  valleys,  the  eye 
is  enchanted  by  the  splendid  foliage  of 
the  Eavenela,  or  traveler's  tree,  one  of 
the  most  characteristic  representatives 
of  Madagascar.  Truth  and  error  have 
alike  made  a  poetical  legend  of  it.  When 
it  is  spoken  of,  the  imagination  pictures 
the  exhausted  traveler  dying  from  the 
agonies  of  thirst,  restored  at  once  by 
the  pure  water  of  this  tree.  Alas  for 
this  fiction!  it  only  grows  where  there 
are  plenty  of  springs.  Sailing  on  the 
River  Jorouka,  and  stopping  to  climb 
the  hills,  a  beautiful  landscape  presents 
itself  to  the  eye;  the  Ravenelas  cover 
all  the  valleys,  some  rising  to  the  height 
of  thirty  feet;  and  at  the  top  of  the 
strong  stem  a  gigantic  fan  spreads  out 
of  fifteen,  twenty,  or  twenty-five  enor- 
mous bright  leaves,  on  stalks  from  two 
to  three  yards  long.  Between  these  a 
few  branches  appear,  bearing  flowers 
and  fruits;  the  latter  on  opening  show 
about  thirty  seeds,  wrapped  in  a  silky 
envelope  of  a  bright  blue  or  violet. 
The  reservoirs  of  water  are  very  simple; 
the  rain  which  falls  on  the  leaves  runs 
down  a  trench  in  the  flower-stalk;  these 
are  large  at  the  base  and  retain  the 
liquid.  When  this  is  pierced  with  a 
lance,  a  stream  runs  out,  and  the  na- 
tives at  work  in  the  heat  draw  from 
this  source,  to  save  the  trouble  of  going 
to  a  neighboring  torrent.  It  is  besides 
a  most  valuable  tree;  the  leaves  are  made 
into  plates  and  cups;  they  serve  to  cov- 
er the  roofs  and  walls  of  houses;  the 
bark  is  made  into  planks,  and  the  trunk 
into  beams.     Unique  of  its  kind,  those 


who  have  seen  the  Malagaches  use  it 
say  it  should  be  named  the  builder's 
tree. 

American  Tea. — Georgia  is  going  to 
try  her  hand  once  more  at  Tea-growing. 
Those  who  have  investigated  the  subject 
assure  us  that  the  obstacle  to  the  cult- 
ure of  Tea  successfully  as  an  article  of 
commerce  in  the  Southern  States  is  the 
want  of  experience,  but  chiefly  of  cheap 
labor.  The  Tea-tree  of  China  has  been 
grown  by  several  persons  in  Georgia, 
from  the  Piedmont  region  to  the  sea- 
coast.  The  shrub  is  a  hardy  and  vigor- 
ous evergreen,  and  thrives  as  well  with 
us  as  it  does  in  China  or  Japan.  It 
grows  from  three  to  five  feet  high — a 
neat,  compact,  Laurel  -  leaved  shrub, 
with  pretty  white  flowers  in  spring,  and 
is  quite  ornamental.  It  is  perfectly 
hardy,  and  will  stand  any  exposure  to 
the  climate,  as  has  been  tested  in  Ath- 
ens, and  many  other  localities  in  Geor- 
gia. We  are  told  it  would  be  an  easy 
matter  for  any  family  that  has  a  home 
and  a  few  feet  of  ground  to  produce 
their  own  Tea  and  a  little  to  sell.  Its 
general  introduction  for  home  use 
would  most  likely  lead  to  its  produc- 
tion for  the  market.  There  will  be  ma- 
ny things  for  the  people  to  learn  before 
they  are  able  to  manufacture  the  article 
as  we  get  it  from  China;  but,  it  is  said, 
a  very  good  Tea,  and  free  from  adultera- 
tion, can  be  made  by  simply  picking  and 
drying  the  leaves  in  the  same  manner 
that  Sage-leaves  are  cured. — N.  Y.  Bui' 
letin. 

Soot  as  a  Garden  Fertilizer. — Per- 
haps it  may  never  have  occurred  to  some 
of  our  fair  lady  readers,  that  the  refuse 
soot  of  their  chimneys  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  stimulants  and  fertilizers 
they  can  have  for  their  garden  flowers. 
The  following  incident  of  practical  ex- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


327 


perience  is  from  a  lady  contributor  to 
The  Rural  Carolinian :  During  two  sea- 
sons we  nursed,  fed  and  petted  a  Hart- 
ford Prolific  Grape-vine — as  much  for 
its  shade  over  a  window  as  for  its  fruit 
— but  it  persisted  in  remaining  a  stunt- 
ed cane,  yellow,  and  refusing  to  climb. 
At  the  window,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
door,  we  had  a  stunted  Rose-bush,  also 
yellow  and  refusing  to  climb.  De- 
spairing of  shade,  Grapes,  and  Roses, 
we  finally  bethought  ourselves  of  soot 
as  a  manure,  and  forthwith  made  a 
"  soot  tea"  by  steeping  a  tea-cup  of 
soot  in  a  quart  of  water.  This  we  ad- 
ministered, two  doses  each,  to  both  the 
tree  and  the  vine.  The  vine  grew  six 
feet  in  height  in  the  space  of  six  weeks, 
the  Rose-bush  four  feet  in  the  same 
length  of  time — both  thereafter  rejoic- 
ing in  raiment  of  living  green. 


Labels  for  Plants.  —  The  Horticult- 
urist says:  "One-half  the  pleasure  in 
growing  our  plants  arises  from  the 
knowledge  of  their  names  and  whence 
they  come.  In  fact,  we  desire  some  lit- 
tle memorandum  that  will  remind  us, 
every  time  that  we  look  at  them,  what 
their  title  is,  what  their  native  country, 
from  whom  procured,  and  sometimes 
additional  remarks  of  an  explanatory 
character.  An  ordinary  flat  surface 
would  have  to  be  too  large  and  unsight- 
ly, so  we  use  a  four-sided  stake,  one 
and  three-quarter  inches  in  diameter, 
planed  smooth,  and  painted  white. 
They  should  be  about  twelve  or  fifteen 
inches  in  length  and  pointed.  When 
desired  for  use,  rub  lightly  over  the  sur- 
face a  thin  coat  of  paint,  and  write 
thereon  with  a  lead  pencil,  which  will 
last  for  two  or  three  seasons  distinctly. 
The  four- sided  stake  or  label  is  prefer- 
able, as  it  is  comparatively  inconspicu- 
ous, gives  a  greater  amount  of  surface 


for  writing  upon,  and  always  looks 
neat.  It  is  especially  adapted  for  Rose- 
bushes, groups  of  flowering  shrubs,  or 
masses  of  hardy  border-plants.  Time, 
it  has  not  the  merit  of  being  imperisha- 
ble; in  fact,  it  has  to  be  replaced  rather 
too  frequently;  but  we  like  the  appear- 
ance of  wooden  labels  and  we  like  to 
write  upon  them.  The  four-sided  stakes 
for  supporting  Roses  and  other  plants 
may  be  utilized  as  labels  by  painting 
say  six  inches  of  the  top  white,  while 
the  remainder  looks  best  green.  This 
top  may  then  serve  the  same  purpose  as 
the  above-named  label." 


There  is  one  mode  of  adding  to  the 
health  as  well  as  the  beauty  of  San 
Francisco  which  seems  strangely  ne- 
glected, namely,  the  planting  of  trees 
along  our  great  thoroughfares.  The 
outskirts  of  the  city  owe  much  of  their 
agreeable  appearance  to  the  rows  of  Eu- 
calyptus and  Cypress  that  adorn  their 
sidewalks.  Surely,  at  least  Market 
Street  might  have  similar  lines  of  ver- 
dant foliage,  relieving  and  softening  the 
bustle  and  commercial  features  of  that 
centre  of  traffic.  The  subjects  cursorily 
dealt  with  here  are  well  worthy  of  the 
attention  of  our  new  Board  of  Super- 
visors. There  are  more  sides  to  a  man's 
character  than  one.  His  nature  be- 
comes dwarfed  if  money-getting  and 
business  excitement  absorb  it  entirely. 
Give  the  artistic  and  beauty-loving  ele- 
ments in  the  mental  constitution  of  our 
fellow-citizens  a  chance;  let  public 
buildings,  constructed  according  to  the 
strictest  principles  of  architecture,  rear 
their  stately  forms  in  our  midst;  place 
the  poetry  of  nature,  with  its  verdure, 
side  by  side  with  the  prose  of  the  act- 
ive pursuits  of  life,  and  we  may  live  to 
see  San  Francisco  not  only  the  centre 
of  the  commerce  of  two  continents,  but 
of  their  arts  as  well. 


328 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Fruit  ln  the  Foot-hills. — California, 
says  a  Sacramento  paper,  has  obtained 
a  world-wide  reputation  as  a  fruit-pro- 
ducing country,  and  as  a  State  she  prob- 
ably excels  in  this   respect   any  other 
state  in  the  world.     Not  only   are  all 
the  hardier  fruits  of  temperate  climates 
raised  within  her  borders  in  great  pro- 
fusion, but  the  semi-tropical  fruits  are 
also  produced  in  great  perfection.     All 
these  fruits  grow  well  in  nearly  all  the 
valleys  of   the   State  from  Siskiyou  to 
San  Diego,  and  return  a  handsome  prof- 
it to  the  cultivators,  but  experience  is 
demonstrating  the   fact,   although   the 
valleys  are  good  for  fruit,  the  foot  -  hills 
both  of  the   Sierra   and   Coast  Range 
Mountains  are  much  better.     Both  the 
climate  and  the  soil  of  the  rolling  coun- 
try leading  from  the   valleys    to   the 
mountains  seem  much  better   adapted 
to  fruit  culture  than  the  valleys  them- 
selves.    All  fruit  raised  on  these  rolling 
lands  has  a  closer  meat  and  finer  flavor 
than  the  same  varieties  raised  in  the 
valleys  below.     The  Apple  is  more  jui- 
cy, the  flesh  harder,  and  will  keep  much 
longer.     The  Apple  of  the  foot-hills  is 
also   more   highly   colored,  and  if  not 
larger,  is  equally  as  large  and  fair.  The 
foot-hills  seem  to  be  the  natural  home 
of  the  Prune,  the  Plum,  and  the  Peach; 
in  no  other  portion  of  the   State  does 
the  Grape  grow  so  perfectly  either  for 
wine  or  raisins  as  in  the  rolling  country 
called  the  foot-hills. 


The  Florida  Cedar. — Active  efforts 
are  being  made  to  acclimatize  the  Flor- 
ida Cedar  (Juniperis  Virginiana)  in  Ba- 
varia. Its  wood  is  superior  to  all  other 
kinds  of  Cedar,  and  is  in  great  demand 
in  the  manufacture  of  lead-pencils.  As 
this  industry  is  largely  carried  on  in 
Bavaria,  the  manufacturers  are  striving 
to  secure  a  home-supply  of  the  material 


so  necessary  to  their  operations.  Seeds 
have  been  sown  in  the  Boyal  Forest,  and 
about  5,000  young  plants  have  been 
grown  on  one  private  estate.  The  cul- 
tivation of  the  tree  is  also  being  at- 
tempted in  other  parts  of  Germany. 


A  New  Source  of  Caoutchouc — Just 
as  the  world  was  beginning  to  be  told 
that  the  supply  of  this  useful  material 
was  about  to  come  short  by  reason  of 
the  destruction  of  the  tree  which  pro- 
duced it,  and  the  thriftlessness  which 
failed  to  keep  up  the  supply  by  artificial 
cultivation,  we  are  also  informed  of  the 
fact  that  an  entirely  new  source  of  sup- 
ply has  been  discovered  in  Burmah,  in 
a  creeping  plant  whose  botanical  name 
is  Chavannesia  esculenta.  The  plant  is 
very  common  in  Burmese  forests,  and 
is  cultivated  by  the  natives  for  the  sake 
of  its  fruit,  which  is  said  to  have  an 
agreeable  acid  taste,  and  to  mature  at  a 
season  when  Tamarinds  are  scarce. 


METEOROLOGICAL    RECORD, 
Fob  the  Month  ending  September  30,  1875. 

(Prepared  for  The  Hobtictjltubist  by  Thos.  Tennent, 
Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No. 
423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office) . 

BAEOMETEB. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.06  in. 

do  12m 30.06 

do  3  p.  m 30.06 

do  6p.m 30.05 

Highest  point  on  the  30th,  at  12  m 30.19. 

Lowest  point  on  the  20th,  at  6  p.  m 29.81 

THEEMOMETEB. 
(  With  north  exposure  and  free  from  reflected  heat.) 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 61° 

do  12  m 65° 

do  3  P.  M 64° 

do  6  p.  m 58° 

Highest  point  on  the  20th,  at  1  p.  m 86c 

Lowest  point  on  the  11th  and  25th,  at  6  p.  m 53° 

SELE  -  BEGISTEBING    THEEMOMETEB . 

Mean  height  during  the  night 51° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  21st  and  22d 55° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  9th 48° 

WINDS. 
Prevailing  wind,  west. 

WEATHEB. 
Clear  all  day  7  days;  cloudy  all  day  1  day;  the  remain- 
der of  the  month,  cloudy  mornings,  with  clear  weather 
and  sea  breeze  in  the  afternoons,  and  mostly  cloudy  or 
evenings. 


pYNERIUM        ARGENTEU 
(Pampas  Grass). 


M 


THE 


AND   FLORAL  MAGAZINE. 


Vol.  V.  SAN   FRANCISCO,  NOVEMBER,    1875.  No.  11. 


WILD  FKUITS  OF  THE  WEST. 

BY   E.    J.     HOOPEB. 

A  subject  which  is  interesting  to 
most  fruit-growers  and  lovers  of  fruit 
is  that  of  the  wild  fruits  of  the  "West  on 
the  North  American  continent.  We 
have,  during  our  sojourns  and  visits  in 
various  parts  of  the  western  countries, 
paid  some  attention  to  these.  We  will, 
in  our  brief  descriptions  of  some  of  the 
chief  of  them,  follow  the  order  in  which 
they  ripen  from  spring  until  winter. 
The  first  to  ripen  is  the  wild  Strawber- 
ry. It  grows  mostly  on  poor  land,  but 
sometimes,  as  in  California,  on  very 
rich  soils,  and  generally  where  there  is 
not  much  timber.  There  are  always 
many  such  places  to  be  found  in  many 
large  tracts,  as  well  as  localities  of 
some  small  extent  on  the  points  of  hills 
along  the  creeks.  It  is  to  be  seen  in 
many  of  the  canyons  of  the  State,  and, 
nearest  the  city,  back  of  Saucelito,  in 
Marin  County.  The  fruit  is  small  (it  is 
not  of  the  alpine  kind),  and  is  always 
rather  more  acid  than  any  of  our  culti- 
vated Strawberries.  It  is  never  found 
very  abundant  where  there  are  very 
thick  woods.  In  Virginia  and  Kentucky, 

and  many  of  the  other  Western  States, 
Vol.  v.— 31. 


trees  called  the  "Service"  are  among  the 
first  to  bloom.  Their  beautiful  small 
white  flowers  make  a  fine  appearance 
through  the  woods  in  April.  It  is  often 
transplanted  from  the  forests  by  settlers, 
into  their  gardens.  It  bears  its  fruit  in 
June.  The  small  red  berries  are  sweet 
and  somewhat  juicy,  with  a  slight  acid- 
ity, and  a  very  agreeable  flavor.  They 
grow  very  abundantly  in  new  regions 
along  the  small  water-courses,  and 
more  thinly  over  the  hills  at  a  distance' 
from  them.  "When  domesticated,  the 
berries  of  these  graceful  trees  are  eager- 
ly devoured  by  the  small  bird^,  espec- 
ially by  the  tallingers,  and  the  cedar- 
birds  or  waxwings.  The  early  settlers 
cut  down  the  trees,  as  they  did  the 
Mulberries  and  Cherries,  for  the  fruit 
alone.  The  Service-tree  is  hardly  worth 
cultivating  in  gardens,  as  these  small 
birds  above  named,  with  others,  gener- 
ally destroy  all  the  berries  before  they 
are  ripe. 

At  the  earliest  settlement  of  the 
western  country,  Blackberries  of  course 
grew  in  abundance,  as  they  do  still  in 
open  places,  and  where  the  timber  is 
blown  down  by  tornadoes  or  hurricanes. 
These  openings, were  called  the  "  fallen 
timber."    At  first  the  gatherers  had  to 


330 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUBIST. 


pick  the  berries  under  a  guard  against 
the  Indians.  Wild  Raspberries,  of  an 
agreeable  flavor,  both  red  and  black, 
are  found  in  many  parts  of  the  "West, 
but  the  pioneers  did  not  at  first  find 
them  very  plentiful  anywhere. 

Gooseberries  of  small  size,  and  very 
full  of  thorns,  but  of  an  agreeable  taste, 
grow  in  some  situations  in  the  woods, 
but  they  are  not  so  plentiful  as  the 
Blackberry  or  Raspberry. 

Whortleberries  are  abundant  in  some 
sections  in  the  mountainous  parts,  and 
scarce  in  others;  also,  Huckleberries 
are  numerous.  Wild  Plums  are  plen- 
tiful on  the  richest  lands.  They  are  of 
various  colors  (chiefly  red  and  yellow) 
and  sizes,  and. many  of  them  are  of  ex- 
cellent flavor.  They  are  a  little  like,  in 
flavor,  to  a  large  fully  ripe  English 
Gooseberry.  They  began  about  1822, 
like  the  Damson  and  other  Plums,  to 
be  affected  and  destroyed  by  the  curcu- 
lio,  and  have  been  so  ever  since,  al- 
though some  persons  have  thought  that 
they  were  free  from  that  pest. 

An  indifferent  kind  of  fruit,  called 
by  the  frontiersmen  Bubkberries,  grows 
on  small  shrubs,  on  poor»  ridges  partic- 
ularly. 

The  fall  fruits  are  winter  and  autumn 
Grapes/  The  winter  sort  grow  in  the 
bottom  lands.  They  are  sour,  of  little 
value,  and  only  used  when  strongly 
touched  by  frost.  The  fall  Grapes 
grow  on  the  higher  grounds,  especially 
in  the  "  fallen  timber  "  land.  Of  these 
last  Grapes  there  are  several  varieties, 
all  of  the  Fox  genus,  and  some  of  them 
large  and  of  excellent  flavor,  as  the  Ca- 
tawba, Isabella,  etc. 

Black  Haws  grow  on  large  shrubs  or 
bushes  along  the  moist  bottoms  of  the 
creeks.  They  are  in  large  clusters,  and 
ripen  with  the  first  frosts  in  the  fall. 
Bed  Haws  grow  on  the  Whitethorn 
bushes.      They  are  of  various  kinds. 


The  Sugar  Haws,  which  are  small,  grow 
in  large  clusters,  and,  when  ripe,  are 
free  from  worms,  and  the  semi-trans- 
parent are  most  esteemed.  , 

Wild  Cherries  are  abundant  in  many 
places. 

Papaws  are  plentiful  along  the  larger 
water-courses  and  on  the  rich  hills. 
Scarcely  any  animal  will  touch  them 
except  the  raccoon.  They  are  rich  and 
luscious,  and  much  liked  by  some  per- 
sons. 

The  Crab-apple  is  very  abundant 
along  the  smaller  water- courses.  It 
blossoms  a  little  later  than  our  Apple- 
trees.  The  blossoms  are  very  showy, 
pinkish,  and  fragrant.  The  fruit  is  tol- 
erably good  whin  frosted  under  the 
trees. 

Of  Hickory- nuts  there  are  a  great  va- 
riety; some  of  the  Shell-bark  nuts  are 
quite  as  good  at  least  as  the  English 
Walnut.  Of  White  Walnuts  the  early 
inhabitants  had  a  great  abundance  (so 
says,  at  any  rate,  an  early  history  of 
Kentucky),  and  of  Black  Walnuts  many 
varieties  as  to  size  [and  amount  of  ker- 
nel. Hazel-nuts  and  Chestnuts  are 
plentiful  in  many  parts  of  the  country. 

As  early  as  1765  Peach-trees  were 
planted.  For  some  time  a  crop  of 
Peaches  once  in  three  or  four  years  was 
as  much  as  was  expected.  After  awhile, 
these  trees  became  so  far  acclimated 
as  to  bear  almost  every  year.  So,  in 
rather  less  degree  with  Apple-trees. 
The  Peach  and  Pear  trees  did  very  well 
until  1806,  when  a  long  succession  of 
rainy  seasons  commenced,  during  which 
the  trees  overgrew  themselves,  and  the 
fall  being  warm  and  rainy,  they  contin- 
ued their  growth  until  the  onset  of  win- 
ter. Their  branches  were  then  full  of 
sap,  and  as  water  occupies  a  greater 
space  when  frozen  than  when  fluid,  the 
freezing  of  the  water  they  contained 
burst  the  texture  of  the  wood,  and  ren- 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUBIST. 


331 


dered  theni  unfit  for  the  transmission 
of  sap  the  next  season.  This  fact  leads 
to  the  conclusion  that  these  soft-wooded 
fruit-trees  ought  to  be  planted  in  the 
climate  of  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  in  many  other  States,  in 
the  highest  situations,  and  in  moderate- 
ly rich  land,  -where  they  will  have  rather 
a  slow  growth;  and  this  is  now  being 
mostly  done.  In  1826  came  the  de- 
structive Peach -worm.  Persimmons 
are  found  wild  as  well  as  cultivated  in 
such  States  as  those  named  above. 
There  are  several  sorts  of  them,  and 
they  can,  no  doubt,  be  improved  by  cul- 
tivation and  grafting.  It  is  well  known 
that  they  are  not  eatable  until  after 
pretty  severe  frosts.  We  have  not  yet 
heard  of  any  of  them  being  brought  to 
California,  and  if  they  were  here  we 
have  not  frost  sufficient  to  make  the 
fruit'eatable,  except  on  the  mountains. 

California  possesses  some  of  the  wild 
fruits  above  described.  Her  wild  Grapes 
are  uneatable,  attaining  no  size.  Cali- 
fornia Huckleberries  are  an  inferior  sort 
to  the  eastern.  She  has  likewise  Salm- 
on-berries. 

I  need  hardly  mention  that  the  large 
Acorns  from  one  of  our  Oaks  (Quercus 
Hindsii,  or  White  Oak),  form  the  prin- 
cipal food  of  all  the  wild  Indians;  as 
also  do  some  kinds  of  Pine-nuts,  espec- 
ially those  of  Pinus  Sabiniana. 

A  species  of  the  Cereus  or  Cactus 
is  well  known,  also,  to  yield  a  plentiful 
supply  of  fruit  to  the  Indians  in  south- 
ern California. 

In  Arkansas  there  is  a  plant  called 
Man-root  from  the  similarity  of  its  root 
in  size  and  shape  to  the  body  of  a  man. 
It  is  esculent,  and  serves  sometimes  to 
sustain  human  life  in  some  of  the  many 
vicissitudes  of  hunger  and  privation  to 
which  men  who  roam  the  prairies  as  an 
occupation  are  subjected. 

In  Oregon  there  is  the  Oregon  Grape, 


or  Holly-leaved  Barberry,  which  bears  a 
flower  that  is  very  ornamental,  of  a 
bright  yellow  color,  in  clusters  a  finger 
long.  Its  fruit  is  ripe  in  August,  and 
is  of  a  bluish-purple  like  the  Damson- 
plum. 

In  the  northern  part  of  California 
there  is  the  Camasia  esculenta,  or  edible 
Camas,  of  whose  roots  the  Indians  make 
bread. 

The  California  Horse-chestnut  or 
Buckeye  {jEscuIus  Californica),  bears  a 
fruit  or  nut  which  is  a  staple  article  of 
food  with  those  few  California  Indians 
who  still  depend  upon  wild  fruits  and 
game  for  their  subsistence. 

Our  Madrona  {Arbutus  Menziesii) 
bears  a  bright  red  berry  in  clusters,  of 
which  Indians  as  well  as  the  birds  are 
fond. 

The  Manzanita  (Arctostaphylos  glauca) 
produces  round  red  berries,  having  a 
pleasant  acidulous  taste,  and  are  often 
eaten  by  the  Indians  and  grizzly-bears, 
but  there  is  too  little  meat  in  them  to 
pay  white  men  for  the  trouble  of  gath- 
ering them. 


THE  PHYLLOXERA  AND   ITS   REMEDY. 
BY  COL.  M.  EYRE,  JR. 

We  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  phyl- 
loxera kills  the  vine  by  depriving  it  of 
the  rootlets  by  means  of  which  it  re- 
ceives nourishment  from  the  soil.  The 
vine  dies  of  starvation.  Besides  this  the 
phylloxera  modifies  the  corn-position  and 
constitution  of  the  vegetable  juices  as 
soon  as  it  has  attacked  the  roots.  It  can 
then  be  laid  down  as  an  absolute  princi- 
ple, that,  to  save  the  vines  attacked  by 
the  insect,  a  double  treatment  is  re- 
quired: 

1.  The  use  of  an  appropriate  manure 
reconstituent. 


332 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


2.  The  employment  of  an  insecticide. 

For  the  re-animation  of  the  vine  the 
kind  of  plant-food  best  adapted  for  the 
purpose  can  be  ascertained  in  the  local- 
ity. The  composition  of  one  soil  may  be 
such  as  to  require  either  potassa  or 
phosphates,  another  may  require  nitro-. 
genous  manures.  When  the  vine  has 
been  attacked  by  phylloxera  the  appro- 
priate manure  must  be  applied  in  even 
more  than  the  ordinary  proportion.  In 
districts  where  the  vines  are  not  customa- 
rily manured  it  is  best  to  furnish  them, 
■when  attacked  by  phylloxera,  with  a 
complete  manure,  such  as  stable  ma- 
nure, guano,  or  mixtures  of  animal  ma- 
nures with  phosphate  of  lime  and  salts 
of  potassa. 

Ammoniacal  liquors,  such  as  putrid 
wine,  ammoniacal  waters,  gas-lime,  mix- 
tures of  chalk  and  ammoniacal  salts,  are 
also  means  which,  besides  helping  to  de- 
stroy the  insect,  furnish  the  vine  with 
nitrogenous  food  of  great  value. 

Ammonia  and  its  salts  should  never  be 
used  at  the  same  time  as  the  sulpho -carbon- 
ates. A  fortnight  should  elapse  between 
the  application  of  the  one  and  the  other. 
On  no  account  should  the  vine  be  left 
to  itself;  its  diseased  condition  renders 
manure  indispensable. 

To  destroy  the  phylloxera,  the  follow- 
ing are  the  insecticides  which  have 
proved  to  be  the  best: 

1.  The  simplest  is  water  employed 
according  to  the  process  of  M.  Faucon. 
Experience  has  shown  that  forty  days' 
submersion,  in  winter,  will  clear  the 
vine  of  the  insect. 

2.  "When  the  above  is  not  applicable, 
as  must  be  the  case  in  a  vast  majority  of 
instances  in  California,  the  sulpho-car- 
bonate  of  potassium  should  be  used. 

Sulpho-carbonate  of  potassium  is  a 
compound  which  is  decomposed  by  the 
carbonic  acid  contained  in  the  soil  into 
carbonate  of  potassium,  sulphide  of  car- 


bon, and  sulphide  of  hydrogen.  It  is  a 
source  of  sulphide  of  carbon,  placed  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  roots.  But  as 
sulphide  of  carbon,  which  is  so  destruc- 
tive to  insects,  may  be  hurtful  also  to 
the  vine,  especially  during  summer,  the 
active  period  of  vegetation,  it  may  be 
well  to  so  regulate  the  quantity  as  to 
apply  too  little  rather  than  too  much. 
To  show  how  little  is  necessary  to  pro- 
duce the  effect  on  the  insects,  the  com- 
missioners say  that  15  grains  (supposed 
dry),  dissolved  in  20  gallons  of  water, 
killed  phylloxera  on  vines  in  pots.  The 
sulpho-carbonate  of  potassium  of  com- 
merce, such  as  is  used  by  the  delegates 
of  the  academy,  is  in  solution;  it  con- 
tains half  its  weight  of  dry  salt.  The 
dose  for  each  vine,  or  for  each  square 
yard  of  ground,  is  from  §  to  1  fluid 
ounce,  which  represents  nearly  a  gallon 
each  of  gaseous  sulphide  of  carbon  and 
sulphureted  hydrogen,  capable  of  being- 
developed  gradually  and  communicat- 
ing their  poisonous  properties  to  hun- 
dreds of  gallons  of  air.  The  experi- 
ments of  M.  Mouillefort  at  the  Cognac 
station  shows  that  the  action  of  the  sul- 
pho  -  carbonate  continues  for  several 
days.  It  should  be  used  in  watery  so- 
lution, but,  as  it  is  not  always  possible 
to  obtain  sufficient  water  during  the  dry 
season,  it  may  be  deposited  in  the  soil 
during  the  fall,  so  that  the  winter  rains 
may  dissolve  it  and  carry  it  into  contact 
with  the  infested  roots.  For  the  latter 
plan,  the  sulpho-carbonate  can  be  made 
so  as  to  be  carried  in  sacks,  by  mixing 
it  with  absorbents,  such  as  dry  manure, 
sawdust,  burnt  bone,  plaster,  slaked 
lime,  &c.  The  best  recipients  are  those 
which  retard  the  action  of  the  carbonic 
acid,  and  permit  the  sulpho-carbonate 
to  await  the  coming  of  the  rain. 

When  the  vine  is  in  full  vegetation, 
the  dose  of  sulpho-carbonate  should  be 
restricted.      But  during  winter,  if  the 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


333 


insect  resists  the  action  of  the  poison, 
the  dose  may  be  doubled  or  even  tripled, 
as  the  vine  is  less  liable  to  suffer  at  that 
season. 

In  treating  an  isolated  spot,  where 
only  a  limited  number  of  vines  are  at- 
tacked, but  where  a  whole  region  is  in 
danger,  the  question  of  expense  in  pro- 
curing water  should  not  be  taken  into 
account.  The  evil  should  be  encoun- 
tered at  once,  and  you  should  not  wait 
until  the  autumn  or  winter.  By  attack- 
ing the  pest  at  once,  you  place  an  ob- 
stacle in  the  way  of  the  development 
and  emigration  of  the  winged  phylloxe- 
ra, which  make  their  appearance  from 
July  to  September.  In  this  case,  the 
sulpho-carbonate  of  potassium  should 
be  dissolved  in  water,  and  carried  down 
into  the  soil  to  the  roots,  to  destroy  the 
wingless  insects.  After  applying  the 
sulpho-carbonate,  the  infested  ground 
should  be  covered  with  a  layer  of  spon- 
gy matter,  impregnated  with  heavy  oil 
of  coal-tar,  the  vapors  of  which  are  par- 
ticularly useful  in  destroying  the  winged 
phylloxera,  and  which  are  important  for 
the  destruction  of  the  insect  in  all  its 
stages,  if  used  in  summer,  on  ground 
which  is  dry  and  capable  of  being  pen- 
etrated by  vapors. 

When  properly  applied  these  pro- 
cesses will  succeed.  Wherever  the  phyl- 
loxera appear  as  extensively  as  in  Sonoma 
the  viticulturists  must  unite  and  form 
local  commissions  to  give  their  attention 
to  the  vines  of  their  districts.  As  soon 
as  the  disease  appears  on  one  or  more 
vines,  the  vine-grower  should  immedi- 
ately notify  the  committee,  who  should 
without  delay  examine  the  roots  of  such 
vines.  When  the  phylloxera  have  been 
recognized,  means  must  be  taken  to  cir- 
cumscribe the  attacked  portion,  by  treat- 
ing all  the  diseased  vines  contained 
therein,  also  the  healthy  vines  comprised 
in  a  "zone  of  preservation " round  the 


part  where  the  principal  work  has  been 
done. 

Taken  thus  in  its  early  stage,  the  evil 
can  be  fought,  circumscribed,  andkilled. 
The  surrounding  vines  should  be  spec- 
ially looked  after,  and  the  least  indica- 
tion of  disease  should  be  carefully 
studied. 

The  application  of  sulpho-carbonates, 
to  be  successful,  must  take  cognizance 
of  these  conditions: 

1.  The  whole  of  the  infested  surface 
must  be  treated. 

2.  The  poison  must  be  carried  deep 
enough  to  reach  all  the  phylloxera.  The 
quantity  of  water  used  for  dissolving 
the  sulpho-carbonate  may  vary  from  \ 
gallon  to  8  gallons  per  square  yard,  ac- 
cording to  the  nature  of  the  soil,  its 
depth,  and  its  state  of  dryness  or  hu- 
midity. In  most  cases,  the  sulpho-car- 
bonate can  be  dissolved  in  2  or  3  quarts 
of  water,  the  liquid  poured  into  the 
place  prepared  to  receive  it,  and,  when 
it  has  been  absorbed,  that  is  in  a  few 
minutes,  the  rest  of  the  water  can  be 
poured  in. 

To  prepare  the  soil  for  the  sulpho- 
carbonate,  the  best  method  according 
to  the  experiments  of  Mr.  Mouillefort 
at  Cognac,  is,  to  dig  an  excavation  with 
fiat  bottom  round  each  vine  3  to  5  in- 
ches deep  and  about  half  or  three-quar- 
ters of  a  yard  square,  and  pour  on,  first 
the  liquid,  and  then  the  water.  When 
the  solution  and  the  water  are  absorbed, 
the  bottom  of  the  excavation  is  covered 
with  a  layer  of  coal-tar  roughly  mixed 
with  some  absorbent  or  spongy  sub- 
stance, as  above  described.  The  earth 
is  left  heaped  up  on  the  edges  of  the  ex- 
cavation until  the  time  for  working  the 
vineyard. 

Proprietors  whose  vineyards  have  not 
yet  been  attacked,  may  simply  protect 
their  vines  by  means  of  the  coal-tar, 
sawdust,  &c.     It  is,  perhaps,  the  best 


334 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


protection  against  the  invasion  of 
winged  and  emigrating  phylloxera. 

The  alkali  sulpho-carbonates  are  now 
an  article  of  commerce.  Delachanel 
and  Mermet  have  given  a  method  for 
determining  the  amount  of  carbon  di- 
sulphide.  The  solution  is  precipitated 
with  acetate  of  lead,  and  the  lead  sulpho- 
carbonate  decomposed  into  lead  sul- 
phide and"  carbon  disulphide  by  heat; 
the  latter  being  carried  over  into  sul- 
phuric acid,  and  then,  freed  of  the  vapor 
of  water,  into  a  tared  portion  of  olive- 
oil,  where  it  remains. 

In  the  Eoyal  Agricultural  School  at 
Vienna  continued  experiments  with  Du- 
mas' remedy  have  been  kept  up. 

Zoller  and  Grete  have  discovered  that 
the  ethylsulpho-carbonate,  as  it  evolves 
the  effective  carbon  disulphide  and  does 
not  eliminate  the  deleterious  hydrogen 
sulphide,  will  more  effectually  do  the 
work  than  will  the  potassium  sulpho- 
carbonate.  But  a  greater  recommenda- 
tion is  that  it  is  cheaper  and  more  easily 
made — and  the  amylsulpho-carbonate 
of  potassium  is  still  cheaper,  costing  but 
some  fifteen  cents  a  pound,  and  equally 
effective.  I  have  not  been  able  to  ob- 
tain the  original  report  of  their  experi- 
ments, but  it  seems  to  me  that  any  com- 
mittee experimenting  should  not  neg- 
lect a  trial  of  the  amylsulpho-carbonate 
of  potassium. 

The  State  Vinicultural  Society  will 
meet  at  2  p.  m.,  on  the  23d  November,  in 
San  Francisco,  at  Grangers'  Headquar- 
ters, and  it  is  hoped  that  every  grape- 
grower  will  try  to  attend,  or  at  least  be- 
come a  member  of  the  association.  The 
apathy  with  which  the  owners  of  even 
large  vineyards  view  every  effort  to  in- 
augurate measures  for  their  benefit  is 
truly  wonderful.  Had  one-tenth  of  them 
taken  means  to  infuse  vitality  into  this 
society  we  could  never  have  witnessed 
such  prices  for  grapes  as  we  see  this 


year.  It  would  seem  as  if  every  vine- 
grower  would  at  once  address  the  Sec- 
retary, M.  Eyre,  Napa,  Cal.,  and  ask  to 
have  his  name  enrolled  as  a  member.  I 
have  this  year  sold  my  grapes  at  $25  and 
$20  a  ton,  while  others  have  obtained 
$8  and  $10,  and  yet  interchange  of  ideas 
and  suggestions  would  have  enabled 
these  people  to  have  pocketed  a  differ- 
ence in  price  sufficient  to  have  paid  their 
membership  fees  for  a  hundred  years. 
It  seems  wonderful  to  me. 


THE  BULB  SEASON. 


BY  F.   A.   MILLEB. 

The  time  is  again  at  hand  when  bulbs 
for  winter  flowering  should  be  planted, 
and,  as  early  flowering  demands  an 
early  planting,  we  should  not  delay  at- 
tending to  this  matter.  Flowers  in 
general  will  soon  become  scarce,  and  if 
we  want  to  adorn  our  windows  or  green- 
houses with  Hyacinths,  Narcissuses, Cro- 
cuses, etc.,  about  Christmas  time,  we 
must  plant  at  once.  Hyacinths  gener- 
ally give  for  the  home  better  satisfac- 
tion under  ordinary  circumstances  than 
any  other  bulbous  plants.  With  very 
little  experience  anyone  can  cultivate 
them  successfully,  and  every  sound 
bulb  will  produce  its  flowers.  In  pur- 
chasing bulbs,  I  find  that  invariably 
large  bulbs  are  selected  in  preference  to 
small  ones;  and  although  it  seems  quite 
natural  to  pick  out  the  strongest  or 
largest  bulbs,  it  is  not  always  the  case 
that  these  produce  the  finest  flowers. 
It  is  quite  sufficient  to  select  fair-sized 
bulbs,  which  are  positively  sound.  If 
a  bulb  is  firm  about  the  crown,  it  is 
certainly  sound,  and  will  flower  under 
ordinary  treatment.  I  have  also  notic- 
ed that  the  demand  for  double  Hya- 
cinths is  far  greater  than  for  the  single 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


335 


kinds,  yet  there  are  many  single  varie- 
ties, of  all  colors,  which  form  finer  and 
more  perfect  flower-stems  than  most  of 
the  double  varieties.  Hyacinths  may 
be  made  to  flower  in  glasses  filled  with 
water — so-called  Hyacinth -glasses;  or 
they  may  be  planted  in  pots  singly  or 
several  together,  or  they  may  be  grown 
in  the  open  ground.     They  will  develop 


A   POT    OF    HYACINTHS. 

their  flowers  in  either  case,  but  those 
cultivated  in  the  house  will,  of  course, 
flower  earlier.  To  grow  them  in  Hya- 
cinth-glasses filled  with  water  is  not  as 
popular  now  as  formerly,  and  with  the 
exception  of  neatness  there  is  no  partic- 
ular advantage  about  it.  At  any  rate, 
I  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  growing  Hy- 
acinths for  the  house  in  pots.  If  you 
prefer  to  cultivate  them  singly  in  pots, 


plant  them  so  as  to  cover  the  tops  of 
the  bulbs  about  half  an  inch;  water 
well  and  place  them  in  a  dark  place;  or 
cover  them  with  sand  or  sawdust  to  the 
depth  of  four  inches,  or  cover  them 
with  an  empty  pot  of  the  same  size — 
any  way  will  do  so  as  to  keep  the  bulbs 
in  the  dark.  Whether  it  be  in  a  cold 
or  warm  room  matters  very  little  in  this 
climate,  except  when  intended  to  force 
them 'for  very  early  flowering,  in  which 
case  bottom  heat  of  some  kind  is  re- 
quired. If  it  be  desirable  to  cultivate 
several  bulbs  in  one  flower-pot,  I  would 
recommend  different  treatment,  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  uniformity  of 
growth  and  the  simultaneous  flowering 
of  the  various  bulbs.  Hyacinths  will 
not  all  grow  alike;  some  varieties  de- 
velop their  flowers  quicker  than  others, 
and  some  produce  a  much  greater 
abundance  of  foliage.  I  would  there- 
fore suggest  to  take,  say,  a  dozen  bulbs, 
and  plant  them  all  in  a  box  of  about 
four  to  five  inches  depth  in  the  same 
way  as  suggested  for  the  planting  of 
bulbs  singly  in  pots.  In  a  month  or 
six  weeks  they  should  be  examined,  and 
if  the  foliage  is  sufficiently  advanced  so 
that  the  flower-buds  show  themselves, 
then  carefully  take  up  with  a  trowel 
those  which  are  most  advanced  and 
equally  developed,  not  disturbing  or 
breaking  up  the  roots  any  more  than  is 
necessary,  and  plant  them  by  threes  in 
a  six-inch  pot;  water  well  after  trans- 
planting, and  place  them  again  in  the 
dark  for  a  few  days,  by  simply  invert- 
ing an  empty  flower-pot  of  the  same 
size  over  them.  In  less  than  one  week 
they  may  be  exposed  to  the  light — in 
the  shade  at  first.  The  leaves  will  soon 
assume  their  natural  green  color  and 
the  flowers  will  develop.  In  partial 
shade  the  flowers  will  last  much  longer, 
but  a  little  sun  will  strengthen  the  stem 
sufficiently  to  bear  the  flowers  without 


336 


THE    CALIFOENIA    HOBTICULTUEIST. 


any  artificial  support,  which  should  be 
avoided  if  possible. 

The  prevailing  idea  among  amateurs 
here,  that  Hyacinth-bulbs  are  worthless 
after  having  produced  their  flowers 
once,  is  entirely  wrong.  When  they 
have  finished  their  flowering  season, 
plant  them  in  a  little  group  in  the  gar- 
den, and  they  will  multiply  and  produce 
flowers  every  year,  unless  some  igno- 
rant hand  employed  will  dig  them  up 
and  throw  them  out.  In  setting  them 
out  in  the  open  ground,  they  should  be 
planted  certainly  four  inches  deep,  and 
if  they  can  be  accommodated  every  au- 
tumn with  a  good  top-dressing  of  ma- 
nure they  will  do  much  better.  In  this 
way  I  have  produced  hundreds — yes, 
I  may  say  thousands — of  excellent 
spikes  of  Hyacinths  every  season. 

Next  time  a  few  words  about  some 
other  bulbs. 


ABOUT    HOSES. 


F.  B.  Elliott,  in  the  Prairie  Farmer, 
writes  thus  of  Eoses:  "  To-day  I  have 
been  in  Ellwanger  &  Barry's  greenhouse, 
where  all  the  new  as  well  as  old  Eoses 
are  grown,  and,  while  I  have  no  desire 
to  give  them  more  than  due  credit,  I 
must  say,  their  greenhouse  and  grounds 
devoted  to  specimens  of  hardy  orna- 
mental trees  and  shrubs,  and  of  varie- 
ties of  fruit,  exceed  any  known  to  me  in 
the  world.  I  have  no  interest  pecunia- 
rily in  writing  the  above,  but  do  it  as  a 
truth  that  should  be  told.  But  now, 
ere  I  touch  the  varieties  of  Eoses,  and 
conrpare  our  old  with  our  new  sorts,  let 
me  say  that  one  of  the  thirty  houses  for 
the  propagation  of  plants,  belonging  to 
Ellwanger  &  Barry,  has  a  Lamarque 
Eose,  two  to  three  inches  in  diameter 
at  base,  and  covering  in  lines  under- 
neath the  rafters  a  distance  of  sixteen 


feet  in  width  by  seventy-five  feet  in 
length,  and  as  I  write  I  think  I  am  safe 
in  stating  that  there  are  upon  this  over 
three  thousand  buds  and  full  blown 
flowers. 

But  to  my  subject.  Doubtless  many 
have  already  got  then-  collection  for  the 
year  and  have  planted  them  out,  but  it 
is  well  at  times  to  add  a  few,  especially 
if  they  have  beauty  in  both  flower  and 
growth  to  warrant  the  expense.  In  this 
article  I  propose  only  to  speak  of  a  few 
varieties  of  rare  beauty,  and  taking  the 
Hybrid  Perpetuals  first,  because  they 
are  hardy,  I  shall  say  that  among  them 
many  of  the  old  sorts,  such  as  Baron 
Prevost,  Caroline  de  Sansal  and  La 
Eeine  are  difficult  to  surpass,  but  time 
brings  forth  new  names  and  varieties, 
such  as  Anna  de  Diesbach,  Auguste  Mie, 
Charles  Lefebvre,  Countess  of  Oxford, 
John  Hopper,  Madame  Victoire  Yerdier, 
etc.  Later,  we  have  first  a  grand  charm 
in  La  France,  with  a  perfect  full  double 
flower  of  silvery  peach-colored  rose,  fra- 
grant, and  a  free  and  continuous  bloom- 
er. This  is  classed,  by  some,  among 
the  Hybrid  Perpetuals,  but  most  grow- 
ers place  it  as  a  Hybrid  Bourbon,  and, 
viewing  it — without  making  a  distinct 
class  —  place  it  among  the  Bourbons. 
Next  to  this,  we  have  Madame  La- 
charme — white,  slightly  shaded  on  out- 
side of  petals  with  delicate  rose,  but 
opening  to  pure  white.  Next,  we  have 
Mademoiselle  Eugenie  Verdier,  of  a 
large,  full,  fine  form,  emblematic  of  its 
name,  and  of  a  beautiful  silvery  rose 
color.  Victor  Verdier,  Prince  Camille 
de  Eohan,  and  many  more  may  be  cit- 
ed, but  the  experience  of  the  writer  is 
that  it  is  not  advisable  to  get  too  many 
new  ones  at  one  time. 

I  can  not,  however,  keep  from  writ- 
ing of  one  called  "  Baron  Chauriand,"  a 
very  dark,  rich,  velvety  Eose,  I  think 
originated  by  Paul,   of   London,  En- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


837 


gland,  and  only  now  in  the  hands  of  one 
party  in  this  country,  who,  to-day,  are 
unwilling  I  should  give  their  name. 

Of  the  Bourbons,  to-day,  we  have 
few  or  none  that  surpass  the  Duchess 
de  Thurenge,  Hermosa,  Dupetit  Tours, 
Queen  of  Bourbons,  and  Souvenir  de 
Mahnaison.  Acidalie  is  a  blush  white, 
and  distinct.  Soalso,  Madame  la  Mare- 
chale. 

Of  the  Noisettes,  no  new  ones,  to  our 
knowledge,  have  been  brought  out;  but 
the  old  Lamarque  (vide  my  note  of  a 
plant  in  Ellwanger  &  Barry's  green- 
house) is  yet  one  of  our  best  outsides, 
while  "Woodland,  Margaret,  Solfaterre, 
Isabella  Gray,  and  Caroline  Marinesse, 
are  good  enough.  The  China  or  Ben- 
gal Roses  have  one,  new  and  valuable, 
named  Ducher,  the  flower  of  which  is 
pure  white,  and  the  plant  a  free  bloom- 
er. 

Of  the  Tea  Roses  there  are  many  new 
ones;  but  the  list,  beginning  with  Adam 
Bougere,  Silene,  Gloire  de  Dijon,  Isa- 
bella Sprunt,  Marie  Ducher,  Safrano, 
and  Sombreuil,  are  so  good  that  it  will 
not  do  to  leave  them  out. 

Among  the  new  varieties  of  this  class, 
the  lover  of  Roses  should  not  neglect 
Madame  Ducher,  Duchess  of  Edinburg, 
Helvetia,  Madame  Doctor  Juttle,  Marie 
Van  Houtte,  and  especially  Madame 
Francoise  Janin;  a  bloom  of  which  we 
have,  just  before  this  writing,  been  ad- 
miring in  Ellwanger  &  Barry's  collec- 
tion of  new  Roses.  It  is  distinct  in 
color,  of  an  orange  yellow,  with  a 
shade  of  copper  in  centre,  full  in  form, 
medium  in  size,  and  with  a  pleasant 
but  peculiar  fragrance,  that  can  only  be 
breathed  once  to  be  appreciated. 

In  closing  these,  my  notes,  it  may 
not  be  an  error,  inappropriate,  or  to  be 
counted  by  those  who  want  to  learn  as 
an  egotism,  if  I  add  that  Roses  bloom 
much  better  when  grown  in  the  house 


or  out  of  doors,  if  they  are  well  and 
often  trimmed  or  pinched  back,  to  cause 
the  buds  mainly  to  form  and  bloom  on 
the  strong  shoots." 


TKOUT. 


BY    PISCATOR. 


Fishing  is  closely  connected  with 
trees,  shrubs,  and  flowers,  mountain 
breezes,  green  hills  and  rippling  wa- 
ters, azure  skies  and  sunny  evenings, 
when  the  skimming  swallow  and  the 
speckled  trout,  sporting  in  the  silvery 
stream,  'contend  together  for  the  tiny 
fly.  As  I  have  always  contended,  an- 
gling possesses  a  close  affinity  to  the  lov- 
er of  Horticulture,  Botany,  and  Natural 
History,  and  as  it  encourages  and  as- 
sists in  the  love  and  study  of  all  these 
objects,  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  out 
of  place  in  a  corner  of  the  Hoktictilt- 
ukist. 

Our  present  paper  shall  have  for  its 
subject  that  eminently  game  and  preda- 
tory fish — the  trout.  These  truly  sports- 
men's fish  differ  considerably  in  propor- 
tions, color,  and  size,  in  different  brooks, 
streams,  and  lakes,  and  even  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  same  river,  according 
to  the  quality  of  the  water,  and  the  nat- 
ture  and  abundance  of  their  food — as 
witness  the  great  disparity  in  size  and 
color  between  the  little  dusky  or  sable 
tenants  of  the  mossy  mountain  or  for- 
est or  marshy  stream,  of  four  or  five 
inches  in  length,  and  two  or  three  oun- 
ces in  weight,  and  the  crimson-striped 
portly  brethren  of  the  lowland  or  prai- 
rie river,  or  inland  lakes,  weighing  as 
many  pounds.  The  average  size  of 
adult  trout  in  most  rivers  may  be  said 
to  vary,  in  California,  from  eight  or 
nine  to  sixteen  inches  in  length,  and 
from  half  a  pound  to  a  pound  and  a 
half  in  weight.     A  well-proportioned 


338 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


trout  of  a  pound,  or  three-quarters  of  a 
pound,  is  a  good  fish;  and  there  are  ma- 
ny more  that  are  below  that  weight  than 
above  it. 

The  female  trout  has  a  deeper  body 
and  a  smaller  head  in  proportion  to  its 
length  than  the  male,  and  is  consider- 
ed to  be  of  superior  flavor  for  the  table. 
The  flesh  of  those  in  fine  condition,  in  a 
stream  where  food  is  abundant,  is  of  a 
delicate  pink  color,  and  of  a  most  delic- 
ious flavor  when  cooked;  being  superi- 
or, in  our  estimation,  to  any  other  fish, 
whether  inhabitants  of  salt  or  fresh  wa- 
ter, except  the  salmon,  particularly  the 
young  salmon  or  grilse.  The  rosy  tint 
of  the  flesh  of  the  salmon  tribe  is  caused 
by  its  being  permeated  by  a  red  color- 
ing matter,  which  Sir  Humphrey  Davy 
found  to  consist  of  a  peculiar  coloring 
principle,  capable  of  being  extracted  by 
alcohol;  and  the  quantity  of  this  matter 
present  in  the  flesh  of  both  trout  and 
salmon  depends  entirely  on  the  nature 
and  abundance  of  their  food.  It  is 
supposed  to  be  most  abundantly  secret- 
ed by  those  fish  that  are  in  the  habit  of 
feeding  almost  exclusively  on  small 
fish  and  crustaceans  at  the  bottom  of 
the  water.  And  it  is  a  fact  well  known 
to  most  experienced  anglers,  that  in  al- 
most every  river  and  lake  there  are  cer- 
tain fish  which  feed  almost  exclusively 
upon  worms,  crustaceans,  and  small 
fish  toward  or  at  the  bottom,  and  sel- 
dom or  never  rise  to  a  fly  ;  while  oth- 
ers, again,  feed  almost  entirely  upon 
insects  on  the  surface  during  the  time 
they  last.  The  former  fish  may  easily 
be  distinguished  from  the  latter  by  their 
exhibiting  larger  and  more  numerous 
black  spots,  and  less  of  red  coloring  on 
their  sides,  and  by  their  bellies  being 
of  a  shiny  silvery  white,  and  flat  under- 
neath. The  flesh  of  these  fish  will  be 
generally  of  a  fine  pink  color,  and  rich 
in  flavor;  while  that  of  the  fly-taking 


individuals  will  be  comparatively  white, 
softer,  and  more  insipid.  They  will 
also  be  found  much  thicker  at  the 
shoulders  in  proportion  to  their  length 
than  the  latter. 

The  condition  of  a  trout  may  be  judg- 
ed of  by  the  thickness  of  the  shoulders, 
the  dej)th  of  the  belly,  the  general  firm- 
ness of  the  flesh,  the  brilliance  of  its 
coloring,  the  vigor  and  determination 
with  which  he  resists  his  capture,  the 
comparative  smallness  of  the  head  to 
the  bulk  of  the  body,  the  brightness 
and  distinctness  of  the  red  line  on  its 
sides,  and  the  bright  colors  and  silvery 
lustre  of  the  fins  and  belly.  A  fish 
displaying  all  these  characteristics  will 
be  in  the  primest  condition,  and  gener- 
ally have  pink  flesh. 

In  regard  to  the  production  of  cross 
or  hybrid  fish  between  the  different 
members  of  the  salmon  tribe,  Sir  Hum- 
phrey Davy  in  his  time,  and  others  at  the 
present  time,  very  accurate  and  also 
highly  scientific  observers,  seem  to 
have  entertained  a  notion  that  such 
male  fish  were  sometimes  produced; 
and  a  series  of  well-conducted  experi- 
ments on  this  subject  would  be  of  the 
utmost  interest,  as  a  fish  partaking  both 
of  the  qualities  of  the  salmon  and  the 
common  trout,  blended  together,  would 
indeed  be  a  valuable  acquisition  to  our 
waters,  provided  it  were  capable  of  per- 
petuating the  race.  But  it  seems  to  us 
highly  probable  that  nature  may  have 
fixed  an  insurmountable  barrier  to  such 
anomalous  modes  of  propagation  among 
the  finny  tribes,  by  rendering  the  sper- 
matic fluid  of  one  species  incapable  of 
fecundating  the  ova  of  another.  Were 
it  otherwise,  the  indiscriminate  manner 
in  which  that  fluid  is  shed  abroad  in  the 
water  during  the  breeding  season,  by 
several  different  species,  at  the  same 
time  in  the  same  river,  and  its  conse- 
quent liability  to  be  brought  into  con- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICULTUEIST. 


339 


tact  with  the  newly-excluded  ova  of  oth- 
er species  and  varieties  similarly  occu- 
pied, if  it  was  capable  of  impregnating 
them,  would  give  rise  to  endless  cross 
varieties  of  fish,  and  speedily  involve 
the  whole  genus  in  inconceivable  an- 
archy and  confusion:  a  proceeding  so 
totally  at  variance  with  the  usual  per- 
fect order  and  harmony  of  nature's 
plan,  as  to  render  such  anomalous  im- 
pregnations of  doubtful  result. 


THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN'  BRAMBLE. 


"When  the  expedition  to  the  Eocky 
Mountains,  commanded  by  Major  Long, 
returned  in  1821,  the  botanist,  Doctor 
James,  brought  home  dried  specimens 
of  a  Kaspberry  or  bramble,  of  which  the 
fruit,  according  to  him,  was  "  large  and 
delicious."  Doctor  Torrey,  finding  it 
was  a  new  species,  named  it,  upon  the 
strength  of  Doctor  James'  notes,  Bubus 
deliciosus,  he  not  at  that  time  knowing 
that  every  fruit  met  with  by  an  explor- 
er is,  if  not  absolutely  repulsive  and 
uneatable,  "  delicious."  Major  Long 
himself  greatly  excited  the  fruit-growers 
of  that  day  by  his  accounts  of  the  ex- 
cellence of  a  Grape  found  on  the  same 
expedition,  which  was  some  years  aft- 
erward cultivated,  and  found  to  be  no 
better  than  any  other  wild  Grape.  The 
stories  of  explorers  in  regard  to  fruit 
must  be  accepted  cautiously,  as  every- 
thing tastes  good  to  a  hungry  man,  who 
has  lived  for  months  on  salt  pork  and 
"hard-tack."  In  this  case  "  delicious 
Raspberry,"  as  we  may  translate  Bubus 
deliciosus,  is  a  misnomer,  as  its  fruit  is 
not  only  not  delicious,  but  only  barely 
edible.  There  has  long  been  a  fine  old 
specimen  of  this  shrub  on  the  rockery 
at  the  Botanic  Garden  at  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, and  when  Professor  C.  S.  Sar- 
gent assumed  directorship  of  the  garden, 


he  was  struck  with  the  value  of  the  spe- 
cies as  an  ornamental  plant.  It  has  a 
graceful  habit,  neat  foliage,  and  in 
spring  produces  an  abundance  of  pure 
white  flowers  upon  the  shoots  of  the 
preceding  year.  While  the  flowers  are 
not  very  lasting,  their  great  abundance, 
large  size,  and  individual  beauty,  com- 
mend it  to  all  lovers  of  flowering  shrubs. 
The  shrub  will  probably  flourish  in  any 
garden  soil,  but  its  natural  habitat  be- 
ing rocky  hill-sides,  it  is  especially 
adapted  to  the  rock-garden.  The  seeds 
of  the  old  plants  at  Cambridge  have 
been  saved,  and  sent  to  various  gardens 
at  home  and  abroad,  though  they  do 
not  seem  to  have  grown  very  generally. 
Mr.  Dawson,  the  propagator  at  the  Ar- 
nold Arboretum  (Jamaica  Plains),  has 
succeeded  in  raising  two  lots  of  seed- 
lings, and  we  may  expect  to  see  the 
plant  before  long  quite  generally  dis- 
tributed. 


FLORISTS'   FLOWERS. 

Zinnias.' — These  have  been  so  much 
improved  of  late  years  that  it  is  some- 
what surprising  they  are  not  more  cul- 
tivated. The  double  varieties  are  quite 
equal  in  fullness  of  petal  and  form  of 
flower  to  any  Aster  or  Marigold,  while 
for  vivid  coloring  and  general  effect 
they  put  in  the  shade  either  of  the 
above,  or  indeed  any  other  annuals  with 
which  I  am  acquainted.  A  bed  we  have 
here,  ten  feet  wide  by  twenty-five  feet 
long,  is  perfectly  dazzling  to  look  on, 
containing  as  it  does  almost  every 
shade  of  color  imaginable.  The  plants 
were  planted  out  the  first  week  in  June, 
in  rows  a  foot  apart  and  six  or  eight 
inches  from  plant  to  plant.  I  may  here 
remark,  that  to  grow  them  really  fine  a 
foot  is  quite  near  enough  together,  but 
in  planting  at  six  or  eight  inches  I  had 
in  view  the  removal  of  any  single  vari- 


340 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOETICULTUKIST. 


eties  that  might  show  themselves.  Few 
of  these  made  their  appearance,  and  the 
bed  is  now  one  mass  of  bloom  and  the 
admiration  of  all  who  see  it.  I  may 
add  that  the  plants  are  from  imported 
seed  obtained  through  Messrs.  Veitch, 
and  although  I  have  grown  Zinnias  for 
some  years  they  are  the  best  I  ever  had. 
I  was  hopeful  last  season  of  having  an 
extraordinarily  fine  strain,  by  selecting 
for  seed  the  largest  and  best  of  all  the 
double  varieties,  but  to  my  great  sur- 
prise and  disappointment  nearly  the 
whole  turned  out  singles,  and  were  the 
worst  lot  I  ever  grew. 

Those  who  have  only  seen  Zinnias  in 
clumps  of  two  or  three,  or  in  small 
beds,  can  have  no  idea  of  the  gorgeous 
display  they  make  when  planted  in 
large  masses  like  the  above.  Zinnias 
are  rather  gross  feeders,  and  to  grow 
them  large  and  fine  they  require  very 
liberal  cultivation.  The  beds  intended 
for  them  should  be  trenched  at  least 
one  foot  six  inches  deep,  and  during 
the  operation  plenty  of  thoroughly  de- 
composed dung  should  be  worked  in. 
Being  natives  of  Peru  they  are  some- 
what tender,  and  should  not  be  sown 
too  soon  in  the  spring.  The  middle  of 
May  is  sufficiently  early,  as  they  grow 
rapidly  and  are  fit  for  planting  out  in 
about  three  weeks  after  the  time  they 
are  sown.  The  seed  should  be  sown  in 
pans  or  boxes  in  light  vegetable  soil, 
which  should  be  placed  in  gentle  heat 
till  they  germinate,  and  the  moment 
this  takes  place  much  care  is  necessary 
to  keep  them  from  becoming  drawn, 
which  they  soon  do  if  not  pricked  out 
thinly  and  placed  close  to  the  glass, 
where  they  can  have  plenty  of  light  and 
air.  As  soon  as  sufficiently  establish- 
ed and  properly  hardened,  advantage 
should  be  taken  of  a  dull  day  to  trans- 
fer them  to  the  bed  previously  prepared 
for  them.     A  good  watering  will  then 


be  necessary  to  settle  ihe  soil  about 
their  roots,  and  a  few  Laurel  or  other 
evergreen  branches  stuck  thinly  between 
the  rows  will  be  of  great  assistance  in 
giving  them  a  start.  They  delight  in 
plenty  of  sunshine  and  warmth,  and  a 
spot  should  be  chosen  to  grow  them 
where  they  can  be  favored  in  that  re- 
spect. Very  little  labor  or  attention  is 
required  after  planting,  beyond  keeping 
the  bed  free  of  weeds,  as,  on  account  of 
the  stiff  nature  of  their  stems,  the  flow- 
ers are  borne  erect,  so  that  they  do  not 
require  staking  or  supports  of  any  kind. 
Should  extra -fine  flowers  be  aimed  at 
for  exhibition  or  other  purposes,  the 
beds  should  be  mulched  over  with  short 
rotten  manure,  and  during  dry  weather 
plentiful  supplies  of  water  must  be  giv- 
en them.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
whole  range  of  annuals  that  can  at  all 
compare  with  them  for  brilliancy  and 
general  usefulness,  and  if  treated  as 
above  they  will  afford  a  display  of 
choice  flowers  from  the  end  of  June  till 
destroyed  by  the  autumn  frosts. — T. 
Sheppard. 


THE  GUM  FROM  THE  MESQUITE-TREE. 


BY    BOTANIST. 


This  gum,  or  substance,  from  the 
above  tree  is  of  importance  as  a  substi- 
tute for  gum-arabic.  The  tree  which 
produces  it  flourishes  extensively  in  the 
high  and  dry  regions  of  the  plains  of 
western  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  the 
peninsula  of  Lower  California  and  the 
adjacent  Indian  territories.  It  occurs 
in  inexhaustible  quantities,  and  will  in 
time  prove  a  valuable  source  of  revenue 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Texas  and  New 
Mexico,  besides  affording  employment 
to  the  different  tribes  of  Indians  roving 
upon  the  plains,  many  of  whom  will  no 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


341 


doubt  be  glad  to  gather  and  deliver  it 
to  the  different  frontier  posts  for  a 
small  compensation.  "The  tree  from 
which  this  gum  is  obtained/'  says  Dr. 
Shumard,  "  is  by  far  the  most  abund- 
ant tree  of  the  plains,  covering  thou- 
sands of  miles  of  the  surface,  and  al- 
ways flourishes  most  luxuriantly  in  ele- 
vated and  dry  regions."  The  gum  ex- 
udes spontaneously  in  a  semi-fluid  state 
from  the  bark  of  the  trunk  and  branch- 
es, and  soon  hardens  by  exposure  to  the 
atmosphere,  forming  more  or  less  round- 
ed and  variously  colored  masses,  each 
weighing  from  a  few  grains  to  several 
ounces.  These  soon  bleach  and  whiten 
upon  exposure  to  the  light  of  the  sun, 
finally  becoming  nearly  colorless,  semi- 
transparent,  and  often  filled  with  mi- 
nute fissures.  Specimens  collected  from 
the  trunks  of  the  trees  were  generally 
found  to  be  less  pure  and  more  highly 
colored  than  when  obtained  from  the 
branches. 

The  gum  may  be  collected  during  the 
months  of  July,  August,  and  Septem- 
ber; but  the  most  favorable  period  for 
that  purpose  is  in  the  latter  part  of  Au- 
gust, when  it  may  be  obtained  in  the 
greatest  abundance,  and  with  but  very 
little  trouble.  The  quantity  yielded  by 
each  tree  is  found  to  vary  from  an  ounce 
to  three  pounds;  but  incisions  in  the 
bark  not  only  greatly  facilitate  its  exu- 
dation, but  cause  the  tree  to  yield  a 
much  greater  amount.  As  it  is,  a  good 
hand  will  probably  be  able  to  collect 
from  ten  to  twenty  pounds  in  a  day. 

The  botanical  name  of  this  commonly 
known  Mezquite-tree,  as  given  by  Pro- 
fessor Spencer  F.  Baird,  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  is  Aglarabia  glandu- 
losa.  It  is  found  on  the  river  Gila,  and 
plentifully  on  the  Colorado.  Like  ma- 
ny of  the  plants  of  that  latitude,  its 
fruit  is  seen  in  blossom  and  in  maturity 
at  the  same  period.     It  is  first  recogniz- 


ed by  the  Pacific-bound  emigrant  as  a 
stunted  shrub;  but  as  he  approaches  his 
destination,  it  is  seen  only  as  a  tree  of 
twenty  to  thirty  feet  in  height.  The 
gum  is  not,  however,  the  only  valuable 
product  of  this  tree.  Mules  devour 
with  avidity  the  fruit,  which  is  contain- 
ed in  a  pod  of  a  twisted  appearance,  be- 
ing a  berry  of  the  size  of  a  bean,  each 
covered  with  a  mealy  pulp.  Lieutenant 
A.  W.  "Whipple,  of  the  United  States 
Corps  of  Topographical  Engineers,  ob- 
serving its  peculiar  effect  on  them,  was 
induced  to  examine  it,  and  found  that 
each  berry  possessed  an  intensely  astrin- 
gent property.  The  Indians  and  Mex- 
icans are  in  the  habit  of  boiling  its 
chips  in  water,  and  with  the  decoction 
dyeing  articles  of  apparel,  etc.  The 
tree  certainly  belongs  to  the  Mimosce,  as 
does  the  Acacia-tree,  from  which  gum- 
arabic  is  obtained;  and  from  the  simi- 
lar properties,  not  only  of  the  gum,  but 
of  Bthe  wood  and  bark,  we  may  practi- 
cally regard  the  two  as  alike. 

We  have  inquired  of  an  eminent 
druggist  in  San  Francisco  as  to  the 
qualities  of  this  new  gum,  and  he  in- 
forms us  that  it  is  more  adhesive  than 
gum-arabic,  although  darker  in  color. 


GEAFTING  GEAPE-VINES. 

It  has  been  discovered  after  repeated 
trials  that  the  Mission  Grape  is  far  in- 
ferior to  many  other  varieties  for  wine- 
making,  as  well  as  for  raisins.  Most 
of  the  early  vineyards  consisted  chiefly 
of  Mission  vines,  and  some  proprietors 
have  rooted  them  up  by  thousands  to 
make  room  for  valuable  varieties.  Of 
course  a  great  loss  of  time  and  labor  is 
involved  in  this  course,  which  might 
be  almost  wholly  avoided  by  grafting 
the  desired  kinds  upon  Mission  stocks. 
The  process  is  so  simple  and  so  certain, 


342 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


that  it  ought  to  be  generally  practiced. 
Cions  for  grafting  should  be  cut  about 
the  first  of  January  and  not  later  than 
February,  and  may  be  set  any  time  be- 
tween the  10th  of  January  and  the  10th 
of  March.  They  should  be  kept  alive 
and  moist  by  burying  them  in  a  cool 
place  so  that  they  will  not  bud  out.  If 
so  kept  and  properly  grafted  they  will 
be  almost  certain  to  thrive,  whether  in- 
serted in  Mission  or  wild  Grape-stocks, 
and  will  often  grow  fifteen  or  twenty 
feet  and  produce  two  or  three  bushels 
of  Grapes  the  first  season.  The  modes 
of  grafting  are  various,  the  chief  differ- 
ence being  in  the  rapidity  of  execution. 
A  graft  or  cion  may  be  inserted  so  as 
to  grow  upon  any  part  of  a  vine,  but 
should  for  practical  purposes  be  inserted 
two  or  three  inches  below  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  which  is  to  be  carefully 
presesd  down  around  the  stock  after  the 
operation.  When  vines  are  gnarly  and 
not  easily  split,  holes  may  -be  bored  in 
the  stump  or  stock  with  a  fine  cutting- 
bit,  and  the  cion  inserted  two  inches 
deep.  The  bark  of  the  cion  should  be 
carefully  peeled  off  as  far  as  it  is  to  en- 
ter the  hole,  and  should  fit  it  closely. 
The  hole  (one  or  more,  as  desired) 
should  be  as  near  the  bark  of  the  stump 
as  possible,  but  it  is  not  necessary  that 
the  bark  of  the  cion  should  meet  and 
coincide  with  it  as  in  grafting  trees. 

The  quickest  and  best  way,  however, 
especially  where  there  is  much  grafting 
to  be  done,  is  to  provide  a  wedge- 
shaped  chisel  about  an  inch  wide. 
Bending  back  the  stock  on  which  you 
wish  to  operate,  press  the  chisel  into 
the  side  and  downward.  The  cion 
should  be  previously  cut  to  a  wedge 
shape,  a  little  thinner  on  the  inner  than 
the  outer  edge,  and  the  bark  of  the 
latter  should  correspond  as  nearly  as 
possible  with  that  of  the  stock.  When 
inserted  in  the  cut  let  go  of  the  stock, 


and  it  will  spring  back,  firmly  holding 
the  cion.  No  covering  except  the  soil 
is  necessary  for  the  incision  in  the  stock. 
One  bud  only  of  the  graft  should  be 
left  above  the  ground.  As  soon  as  it 
is  known  by  the  starting  of  the  bud 
that  the  graft  has  taken — which  will  be 
on  the  last  of  April  or  first  of  May — 
the  stock  above  the  cion  may  be  cut 
away  with  a  fine  saw,  with  an  upward 
cut.  This  plan  is  almost  certain  to 
succeed,  and  even  if  it  does  not  the 
vine  will  produce  the  usual  crop,  as  if 
no  attempt  to  graft  had  been  made. 
This  method  is  so  easy  that  it  quite  does 
away  with  the  necessity  of  dragging  up 
growing  vines  in  order  to  secure  new 
varieties.  Grafting  will  perfectly  an- 
swer the  purpose. — S.  F.  Chronicle. 


THE  APHIS. 


BY    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


The  aphides  (or,  as  they  are  some- 
times termed,  the  plant-lice),  although 
individually  insignificant,  are  vastly 
more  multitudinous  and  very  much 
more  generally  and  minutely  diffused 
than  almost  any  other  class  of  insects. 
It  has  been  assumed  by  eminent  natur- 
alists that  the  number  of  the  species 
may  exceed  fifteen  hundred,  although 
only  about  seventy  have  been  accurate- 
ly described  and  scientifically  determin- 
ed; as  nearly  every  species  of  plant, 
from  the  stateliest  forest-tree  to  the 
minutest  grass,  is  believed  to  be  infest- 
ed by  an  aphis  peculiar  to  itself,  though 
many  species  of  this  insect  feed  on  a 
wide  range  of  different  plants.  Their 
astounding  fecundity  exceeds  that  of 
any  other  animal,  not  excepting  the 
fish,  and  is  effectuated  in  a  manner  oth- 
erwise unknown  in  natural  physiology. 
Bonnet,  the  naturalist,  selected  a  plant- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


343 


louse  -winch  lie  had  seen  the  moment 
before  born  of  a  mother  without  wings, 
and  placed  it  upon  a  leafy  branch  which 
he  had  carefully  ascertained  to  be  free 
from  the  presence  of  any  other  aphis. 
He  completely  isolated  this  branch  from 
the  atmospheric  air  by  an  inverted  glass 
vessel,  and,  commencing  on  the  twenti- 
eth day  of  May,  watched  this  insect 
with  a  microscope  hourly,  from  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning  till  nine  at 
night,  till  the  first  of  June,  when,  hav- 
ing cast  its  skin  foitr  times,  it  produced 
a  young  living  ajmis.  "Within  the  fol- 
lowing three  weeks  it  thus  produced  no 
less  than  ninety-five  aphides.  Bazin 
discovered  that  plant -lice  produce 
young  without  pairing.  Let  us  pause 
a  moment  to  contemplate  the  startling 
gross  result  of  this  fecundity.  If  we 
reckon  with  Bonnet  an  increase  of 
ninety  females  at  each  generation,  the 
progressive  increase  will  stand  thus : 

Firj3t  generation 90 

Second  generation 8,100 

Third  generation 729,000 

Fourth  generation 65,610,000 

Fifth  generation 5,904,900,000 

Ninth  generation 350,970,489,000,000 

Flocks  of  insectivorous  birds  and  myr- 
iads of  other  insects  find  in  these  aphi- 
des their  natural  food.  The  lady-birds, 
which  in  some  places  are  met  with  in 
clouds,  devour  them  in  both  the  per- 
fect and  the  larva  state,  depositing  their 
eggs  in  the  midst  of  their  groups.  The 
larvae  of  some  wasp-flies  feed  on  the 
Cabbage  aphis.  We  all  know  that  we 
have  an  abundance  of  a  species  of  aphi- 
des or  plant-lice  in  our  conservatories . 
These  can  be  destroyed  by  fumigating 
with  tobacco,  but  with  parlor-plants 
they  are.  not  so  easily  disposed  of.  A 
large  box,  in  which  a  number  of  plants 
can  be  placed  and  then  fumigated,  is  a 
very  convenient  method,  always  select- 
ing a  warm  day  for  the  operation,  or 


using  some  room  in  which  the  smell  of 
tobacco  would  not  be  objectionable. 
The  soft-wooded  or  herbaceous  plants 
are  the  ones  most  infested  with  this 
pest.  Place  the  plants  in  a  deep  bos, 
and  then  put  a  few  live  coals  into  an 
earthen  or  metal  dish  and  throw  a  hand- 
ful of  fine-cut  tobacco  upon  them.  The 
box  should  then  be  covered  up  tightly, 
in  order  to  confine  the  smoke  about  the 
plants.  Allow  the  plants  to  remain  in 
the  box  two  or  three  hours,  then  take 
them  out  and  syringe  the  leaves  and 
stems  with  clear  tepid  water.  Repeat 
this  operation  as  often  as  this  "green- 
fly" appears,  if  you  desire  healthy 
plants. 

Another  plan  to  successfully  destroy 
these  nuisances  is  to  boil  an  ounce^  of 
quassia  for  ten  minutes  in  one  quart  of 
water;  then  add  soft  or  whale-oil  soap, 
about  the  quantity  of  a  small  egg;  ap- 
ply this  to  the  infested  plants,  and  the 
destruction  of  the  aphides  will  be  cer- 
tain.    It  will  not  injure  the  plants. 

The  mild  climate  of  California  is  too 
favorable  for  the  propagation  of  these 
troublesome  insects,  although  they  will 
stand  a  great  amount  of  frost  by  shel- 
tering themselves  from  it  in  the  chinks 
and  cracks  of  the  branches  of  trees  and 

shrubs,  etc. 

♦ — 

CALIFORNIA  DRIED  FEUIT. 

The  American  Grocer  of  New  York, 
speaking  of  some  sanrples  of  dried  fruit 
put  up  by  J.  Q.  A.  Ballou,  of  S:*n  Jose, 
says:  "We  were  invited  to  examine 
some  specimen  boxes  of  California  fat- 
ted Plums  and  Prunes  shipped  by  Mes- 
sieurs Auzerais  &  Pomeroy  of  San  Jose, 
California,  to  Messrs.  H.  K.  Thurber  & 
Co.  of  this  city.  They  were  put  up  in 
neat  boxes,  holding  25  pounds  net,  and 
taking  them  in  all,  they  were  the  finest 
iruit  of  the  kind  we  have   ever  seen. 


344 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


There  were  seven  different  varieties, 
some  larger  than  others,  but  all  of  good 
size,  well  cured,  sweet,  and  of  excellent 
flavor.  We  would  earnestly  recom- 
mend our  California  friends,  within 
whose  easy  reach  is  the  entire  dried- 
fruit  trade  of  this  country,  to  be  ex- 
tremely careful  in  giving  uniformity  of 
quality  throughout  in  each  box,  and  to 
avoid  all  appearance  of  evil  in  not  mak- 
ing a  particular  selection  of  the  finest 
specimens  of  each  kind  for  the  top  lay- 
er of  each  box.  Do  not  make  the 
slightest  attempt  to  mislead  the  buyer 
for  appearance  sake.  The  fruit  is  all 
good  enough  to  stand  on  its  merits,  and 
its  merits  are  strong  enough  to  give 
quick  success,  without  any  fictitious 
aid.  If  we  are  thus  critical,  it  is  because 
we  feel  an  honest  and  sincere  desire  to 
see  California  raisins,  prunes,  and  all 
other  kinds  of  fruit,  take  the  place  of 
the  miserable  trash  that  foreign  coun- 
tries have  thought  good  enough  to  send 
us,  and  we  shall  gladly  do  all  we  can 
to  promote  this  object.  Would  it  not 
be  well  to  adopt  the  patent  process  of 
drying?  It  is  desirable  to  enter  the 
market  in  competition  in  price  as  well 
as  quality,  and  if  that  process  were 
used  it  might  enable  the  producer  the 
better  to  do  so." 


YUCCAS  AND  ECHEVEEIAS. 

Two  years  ago,  in  studying  the  new- 
er plants  adapted  to  our  rainless  sum- 
mers, I  obtained  through  the  kindness 
of  Professor  Grey,  very  fine  additions  to 
our  stock  of  fleshy-leaved  House-leeks 
and  Sedums. 

Every  one  is  familiar  with  the  hum- 
ble Sedum  acre  so  much  used  for  our 
borders,  and  which  bears  neglect  and 
drought  admirably;  but  few  are  aware 
that  there  are  some  forty  other  species, 


some  larger  and  some  finer  foliaged, 
well  adapted  for  the  dry  rockery.  Up- 
on the  rocks  at  Humboldt  Bay  a  fine 
silvery  Echeveria  abounds.  We  have 
another  gorgeous  flowering  species  to 
the  southward;  both  are  eminently  de- 
serving of  a  place  in  our  garden.  A 
corner  can  be  given  to  this  family  of 
plants  which  would  prove  an  interest- 
ing variation  to  the  standard  set  styles 
now  in  vogue.  Pretty  high  up,  I  would 
put  a  plant  of  variegated  Agave,  leav- 
ing room  for  it  to  spread  on  all  sides, 
then  a  semi-circle  of  Yuccas,  so  select- 
ed that  they  would  be  likely  to  bloom 
together.  Then  a  row  of  Echeveria 
metallica  with  any  other  Echeverias, 
and  just  on  the  edge  Sedums  and  Sem- 
pervivums.  A  good  name  would  be  the 
"  Live-for-ever  garden,"  as  two  or  three 
waterings  in  a  season  would  carry  it 
through,  if  the  bed  or  mound  was 
made  of  good  rich  soil  in  the  first  place. 
The  little  Sedums  would  creep  in  and 
out  and  carpet  every  inch  of^surface  be- 
tween the  larger  plants. 

Yuccas  are  among  the  finest  archi- 
tectural plants;  especially  Y.  pendula  or 
recurva,  which  made  such  a  splendid 
show  in  the  grounds  of  the  Military 
Academy  last  year.  When  the  bloom- 
shafts  are  dried,  the  plant  appears  to 
be  dead,  but  it  should  not  be  moved 
for  three  or  four  months,  when,  if  lifted 
carefully  a  large  number  of  fleshy  buds 
will  have  protruded,  and  will  already 
have  strong  roots.  These  may  be  separ- 
ated and  planted  or  potted  at  once. 
One  should  always  have  a  sujoply  in  the 
reserve  garden.  The  House-leeks  may 
be  divided  at  any  time. — Jeanne  G.  Carr, 
in  Mural  Press. 


Gbound  Bones  retail  in  England  at 
$30  to  $45  a  ton  in  gold.  The  price  in 
New  York  and  other  centres  of  the  trade 
is  about  the  same  in  currency. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


345 


THE  PAPER -TREE. 


The  Paper -tree  (Tung  tsan).  grows 
•wild  in  the  forests  of  Formosa,  a  beau- 
tiful island  situated  about  eighty  miles 
from  the  Chinese  coast.  It  grows  much 
like  the  Palm,  with  a  slender  trunk  and 
corrugated  bark,  and  often  attains  the 
height  of  thirty  feet.  Its  top  is  crown- 
ed with  a  profusion  of  small  but  deli- 
cate yellow  flowers,  in  clusters,  below 
which  are  a  number  of  large  leaves.  It 
is  a  fine  tree  in  the  flowering  season, 
but  its  value  does  not  consist  in  its  or- 
namental qualities.  Like  the  Elder  it 
has  a  pith,  which  in  the  full-grown  tree 
is  not  less  than  two  inches  in  diameter. 
This  is  driven  out  by  a  punch  after  the 
tree  has  been  cut  into  sections,  and  then 
put  into  hollow  bamboos,  when  it  dries 
straight.  After  it  dries,  it  is  cut  into 
sheets  about  four  feet  long,  by  a  ma- 
chine something  like  that  by  which 
leather  is  split.  These  are  pressed  un- 
til they  become  firm  and  smooth,  after 
which  they  are  cut  into  sheets  the  de- 
sired size. 

This  makes  a  very  good  paper,  and  is 
extensively  used  in  eastern  countries. 
It  has  the  peculiar  quality  of  swelling 
when  it  is  wetted,  and  then  of  retaining 
its  enlarged  size.  This  makes  it  very 
desirable  for  fancy  work,  such  as  taking 
the  impression  of  leaves  and  flowers; 
also  for  drawings,  as  the  moistened  sur- 
face rises  and  gives  the  effect  of  relief. 

This  paper  has  been  in  use  a  long 
time  by  the  Chinese,  though  they  make 
other  kinds  of  different  material. 

Paper  of  some  kind  has  long  been  in 
use,  but  probably  at  first  the  skins  of 
animals  were  used.  We  are  told  that 
the  early  Arabs  made  their  inscriptions 
on  the  shoulder-blades  of  their  sheep. 
The  papyrus  was  early  used  in  Egypt, 
and  continued  in  use  long  after  the 
Christian  era.     This  was  prepared  by 

Vol.  V.— 32. 


separating  the  different  layers  of  the 
bark  of  the  Papyrus,  a  reed-like  plant, 
and  then  pressing  them  together,  with 
each  alternate  one  laid  crosswise.  This 
is  said  to  have  made  a  very  strong  and 
durable  paper. 

The  Buddhist  priests  still  write  their 
sacred  literature  on  the  leaves  of  the  sa- 
cred Palm.  I  have  often  seen  them 
reading  from  these  books,  and  I  have  a 
part  of  one  in  my  possession  now.  They 
are  neat  in  appearance,  and  not  incon- 
venient. 

Modern  invention  has  done  much  for 
the  world,  but  not  as  much  as  one 
would  naturally  suppose.  Most  of  us 
would  be  astonished  to  see  how  well  the 
world  got  along,  and  how  neatly  paper 
was  made  before  the  days  of  paper- 
mills. 


PERSIMMONS  AS  MARKET  FRUIT. 


The  Persimmon,  in  its  unfrosted 
state,  is  an  austere  harsh  fruit,  which 
no  one,  unless  just  learning  to  whistle, 
cares  to  indulge  in.  When,  however, 
it  has  been  exposed  to  some  frost,  it  is 
generally  agreeable  to  most  tastes.  A 
very  large  market  could  be  found  for 
them  in  the  cities  if  they  could  be  got 
in  there  without  mashing,  but  this  has 
been  hitherto  found  impossible.  A 
very  short  distance  of  travel  over  a  rail- 
road is  enough  to  turn  a  basketful  into 
a  shapeless  mass. 

Now  we  think  it  is  well  worthy  of 
thought  by  those  practical  minds  that 
are  always  on  the  lookout  for  something 
on  which  to  make,  whether  something 
can  not  be  done  to  turn  'the  Persimmon 
into  practical  account  as  a  market  fruit 
for  great  cities.  Tears  ago  it  was 
thought  that  the  Strawberry  and  Rasp- 
berry*could  not  be  grown  to  any  profit  • 
.away  from  large  cities,  because  in  bulk 
they  mash  together  so.     But  Yankee 


346 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


genius  got  over  this  difficulty  by  the 
invention  of  the  berry-basket,  by  which 
the  mass  of  fruit  was  divided  into  small 
lots  and  thus  prevented  from  crushing 
on  one  another,  in  slatted  crates.  The 
same  surely  could  be  done  with  the 
Persimmon.  Little  shallow  baskets 
could  be  provided,  in  which  the  Persim- 
mons would  lie  only  two  courses  thick. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  wait  till  the  frost 
softens  the  fruit  before  gathering  them, 
as  then  they  get  mushy  in  handling. 
But  they  can  be  gathered  before  the 
frost  while  yet  hard  and  firm,  and  put 
in  the  crates,  and  the  crates  allowed  to 
freeze  through.  We  are  much  mistak- 
en if  quite  a  good  trade  might  not  be 
got  up  in  Persimmons  in  this  way. — 
Germantown  Telegraph. 


ACCLIMATIZATION. 


BY    HOETICUXTUBIST. 


This  process  may  be  described  as  ren- 
dering a  plant,  whether  fruit,  shrub, 
or  flower,  capable  of  yielding  the  pro- 
duction desired  from  it,  in  a  climate 
different  from  that  in  which  it  is  a  na- 
tive. In  some  parts  of  the  climate  of 
California  (and  it  has  many,  chiefly  ac- 
cording to  elevation  of  localities)  accli- 
matization is  required,  even  in  our  warm- 
est southern  portion  of  the  country  here, 
to  enable  a  purely  tropical  or  even  semi- 
tropical  plant  to  endure  a  lower  temper- 
ature than  that  to  which  it  has  been  ac- 
customed; and  this,  though  most  are 
somewhat  intractable,  is  more  easy  than 
inducing  the  natives  of  very  cold  re- 
gions to  live  and  do  well  in  most  of  our 
latitudes,  except  in  very  high  mount- 
ains. When  a  new  and  valuable  plant, 
especially  if  it  is  a  fruit,  arrives  from  a 
tropical  country,  it  is  desirable  to  use 
every  precaution  to  avoid  its  loss;  but 
as  soon  as  it  has  been  propagated  from, 


and  the  danger  of  such  loss  is  removed, 
from  that  moment  ought  experiments  to 
commence  to  ascertain  whether  its  accli- 
matization is  attainable.  This  should 
be  done,  because  the  nearer  such  a  de- 
sirable point  can  be  gained  the  cheaper 
will  be  its  cultivation,  and,  consequent- 
ly, the  greater  will  be  the  number  of 
those  who  will  be  able  to  derive  profit 
or  pleasure  from  its  growth.  Hence  it 
is  very  desirable  that  an  extended  se- 
ries of  experiments  should  be  instituted, 
to  ascertain  decisively  whether  many  ex- 
otic fruits  and  flowers  which  have  been 
first  tried  in  our  greenhouses  would 
endure  exposure  to  our  comparatively 
mild  winters  and  early  springs,  "al- 
though we  have  some  frosts  nearly  ev- 
erywhere on  this  slope. 

It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  rule,  that 
all  Japanese  plants  will  do  so  in  all 
our  moderate  elevations;  but  it  is  not 
yet  quite  ascertained  to  what  exact  de- 
gree of  elevation  on  our  mountains  this 
endurance  extends.  As  to  the  tropical 
fruits,  such  as  the  Orange, 'Banana, 
Ouava,  Date-palm,  Tamarind,  Chira- 
moya  or  Custard-apple,  Licorice  and 
Indigo  plants,  etc.,  we  are  beginning 
to  discover  that  they  are  likely  to  be 
successful  in  more  parts  of  our  State 
than  we  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
thinking,  though  some  of  these  that  are 
strictly  tropical  plants  will  probably  re- 
quire some  slight  protection  during  the 
winter  in  the  central  and  northern  parts 
of  our  slope,  if  not  in  the  southern.  It 
is  certain  that  the  Strawberry  Guava 
brought  here  several  years  since  has 
ripened  its  crop  in  Sonoma  Valley. 
The  Chiramoya-tree  has  also  done  the 
same.  The  Date-palm  is,  at  any  rate, 
as  hardy  as  the  Orange.  It  will  not, 
though,  bear  fruit  north  of  Point  Con- 
ception. 

A  very  interesting  scope  is  afforded 
to  Horticulture  in  these  experiments, 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


84? 


and  the  acclimatization  here  of  new 
trees,  plants,  and  flowers;  and  even  if 
the  grower  should  not  succeed  with 
some  varieties,  if  he  should  be  able  to 
do  well  with  but  one  or  two,  and  show 
that  they  can  be  made  adaptable  to  the 
climate  in  some  locations,  he  will  be 
accomplishing  a  public  good.  Experi- 
ment and  experiment  only  ought  to  be 
relied  on;  for  we  know  that  the  Larch 
was  once  kept  in  Europe  in  a  green- 
house, and  within  these  few  years  such 
American  plants  as  Tropceolximpentaphyl- 
lum  and  Gesneria  Douglasii  were  found 
to  survive  the  English  winters  (which 
are  sometimes  rather  severe),  in  their 
garden-borders;  the  first  even  in  the 
cold  winters  of  Scotland.  Many  trop- 
ical plants,  of  every  order  and  species, 
have  been  found  to  succeed  with  much 
less  heat  during  the  day,  but  more  es- 
pecially during  the  night,  than  garden- 
ers of  a  previous  century  believed.  Oth- 
er plants  than  those  already  noticed 
have  passed  from  the  tropics  to  the 
parterres  of  England  and  even  to  those 
of  higher  northern  latitudes.  They  are 
therefore  much  more  likely  to  do  well 
in  the  open  ah'  in  California.  The 
Horse-chestnut  is  a  native  of  the  trop- 
ics; but  it  endures  uninjured  the  stem 
climate  of  Sweden.  Every  year  in  Eu- 
rope and  America  renders  us  acquaint- 
ed with  instances  of  plants  being  accli- 
matized. 

As  to  all  plants  of  shrubby  or  tree 
character,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
a  proper  solidification  of  the  wood — 
by  gardeners  termed  ripening  —  is  the 
true  basis  of  acclimatization.  The  way 
to  effect  this  is  by  encouraging  a  some- 
what early  and  free  growth,  and  an  ear- 
ly and  a  decided  rest.  Light  shallow 
soils,  thoroughly  drained,  necessarily 
accomplish  this,  by  promoting  an  ear- 
lier root  -  action,  and  by  exposing  the 
roots  more  to  the  influence  of  the  atmos- 


phere, whereby  the  very  droughts  of 
our  summer  season  become  beneficial, 
by  checking  luxuriance,  and  bringing 
on  the  resting  period  betimes.  In  an- 
nual plants  it  must  be  confessed  that 
scarcely  so  much  progress  has  been 
made  even  in  our  favorable  climate 
with  some  few  tropical  plants  as  in 
those  of  a  woody  character.  But  we 
shall,  as  they  do  everywhere  else,  live 
and  learn,  and  make  good  progress; 
as,  I  believe,  we  are  now  beginning  to 
do. 


DANGEE  OF  TIN  VESSELS  FOE  COOKING 
ACID  FEUITSAND  VEGETABLES. 

In  a  paper  addressed  to  the  French 
Academy  of  Sciences,  Dr.  Fordos  gives 
an  account  of  some  experiments  on  tin 
vessels  used  in  laboratories  and  hospi- 
tals, and  even  in  private  families,  for 
infusions  and  similar  purposes.  These 
utensils  generally  contain  lead  in  cer- 
tain proportions,  and  it  was,  therefore, 
desirable  to  learn  how  far  that  poison- 
ous metal  might  be  injurious  to  health 
in  the  long  run.  Dr.  Fordos  began  by 
introducing  water  acidulated  with  one 
per  cent,  of  acetic  acid  into  a  tin  can 
provided  with  a  lid.  After  letting  it 
stand  for  a  few  days,  he  observed  on 
the  inner  surface  of  the  vessel  a  slight 
white  deposit,  which  was  soluble  in  the 
acidulated  water,  and  communicated 
to  it  all  the  characteristics  of  a  lead  so- 
lution; iodide  of  potassium  yielding  a 
yellow  precipitate,  sulphuric  acid  a 
white  one,  and  sulphureted  hydrogen  a 
black  one.  Nevertheless,  the  latter  test 
is  not  reliable,  since  it  causes  a  black 
precipitate  with  a  salt  of  tin  likewise 
dissolved  in  the  liquid.  The  existence 
of  a  salt  of  lead  in  the  white  deposit  is, 
however,  sufficiently  proved.  It  is  con- 
firmed in  another  way;  if  the  inner 
sides  of  the  vessel  be  scrubbed  with  a 


348 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


piece  of  clean  wet  paper,  a  solution  of 
iodide  of  potassium  will  turn  it  yellow. 
In  certain  experiments,  a  crystallized 
salt  of  lead  was  detected  at  the  bottom 
of  the  jug.  In  other  series  of  experi- 
ments, wine  and  vinegar  were  tried; 
they  both  became  charged  with  lead,  as 
they  dissolved  the  lead  salt  deposited  on 
the  sides.  Again,  tartaric  lemonade, 
left  for  twenty-four  hours  in  the  vessels, 
became  impregnated  with  lead.  Hence, 
Dr.  Fordos  concludes  that  in  alloys  of 
tin  and  lead  both  metals  are  attacked, 
the  latter  being  generally  the  first,  when 
in  contact  with  the  atmosphere  and  acid 
liquids,  such  as  wine,  vinegar,  lemon- 
ade, etc.;  and  that  consequently  there 
may  be  serious  danger  in  such  alloys, 
either  in  the  shape  of  vessels  or  in  tin- 
ning culinary  utensils. 


PEESEEVING  WOOD. 

A  very  simple  and  cheap  mechanical 
process  for  preserving  wood  from  de- 
cay is  described  in  the  London  Chemical 
News.  It  was  devised  by  Mr.  "Weath- 
erby  and  verified  by  Mr.  S.  "W.  Moore, 
of  St.  George's  Hospital.  The  process 
is  as  follows : 

The  wood,  is  first  kiln-dried,  which 
deprives  it  of  the  moisture  and  volatile 
and  inflammable  matter;  it  is  then  put 
into  suitable  cylinders,  in  which  lime 
and  water  with  sulphurous  acid  gas  are 
forced  under  considerable  pressure  into 
the  pores;  the  sulphurous  acid  being  a 
byproduct  from  the  roasting  of  pyrites. 

When  sulphurous  acid  is  passed  into 
lime  under  pressure,  a  sulphate  of  lime 
is  formed  which  is  soluble  in  water,  ca- 
pable of  crystallizing  as  a  bisulphite, 
which  is  readily  oxidizable  and  convert- 
able  into  sulphate  of  lime  or  gypsum. 
As  this  is  insoluble  it  is  not  easily  re- 
moved from  the  pores,  and  protects  the 


wood  by  its  presence.  The  advantages 
presented  by  this  wood  are  that  its 
weight  is  less  after  treatment  than  that 
of  the  same  wood  before  kiln-drying. 
The  process  is  cheaper  than  any  other; 
it  is  an  admirable  means  for  preventing 
dry-rot  and  decay  from  the  action  of 
water,  as  its  pores  are  coated  with  an 
insoluble  salt;  it  thus  wears  longer  and 
vibrates  less  than  ordinary  Pine;  it  re- 
sists the  attacks  of  insects,  and  from  the 
removal  of  the  volatile  inflammable  mat- 
ter, as  well  as  from  the  introduction  of 
a  non-conducting  material,  it  is  well 
able  to  withstand  fire,  the  interior  parts 
not  giving  up  gaseous  matter,  which  al- 
ways so  readily  inflames. 

The  idea  is  much  the  same  as  that 
noticed  accidentally  during  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war;  many  houses  were  found 
to  have  been  protected  from  fire  when 
they  were  largely  built  with  plaster; 
lath-and-plaster  walls  were  uninjured 
by  fire  when  surrounding  parts  were 
destroyed. 


HANGING-BASKETS. 

Baskets  of  living  plants  may  easily  be 
had  in  perfection;  select  such  kinds  as 
will  stand  in  rooms.  As  regards  the 
baskets  themselves  I  like  to  see  the 
wire-work  painted  dark  green.  Some 
paint  it  with  bright  colors,  which  quite 
spoils  the  effect  of  the  flowers,  which 
should  be  gay  enough  as  regards  col- 
ors, without  any  addition  in  the  way  of 
paint.  Inside  the  wire-work  put  a  thick 
layer  of  green  moss,  so  as  to  prevent 
the  soil  from  dropping  through;  over 
this  put  some  broken  crocks,  and  then 
fill  up  with  whatever  compost  is  best 
suited  to  the  requirements  of  the  plants 
with  which  the  baskets  are  to  be  filled. 
For  summer  decorations  there  are  num- 
berless plants  that  can  be  grown  in  bas- 
kets; but,  for  winter  blooming  nothing 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


349 


is  better,  or  looks  more  showy,  than 
Rollisson's  Unique  Geranium  or  scarlet 
Tropseohun,  both  of  which  will  contin- 
ue in  flower  all  through  the  winter,  and 
droop  down  gracefully  all  around  the 
basket.  A  basket,  indeed,  never  looks 
well  unless  it  is  furnished  with  some 
drooping  plant  round  the  edge,  as,  for 
instance,  with  the  variegated  Ivy-leaved 
Pelargonium  called  L'elegante,  while  in 
the  centre  should  be  a  nicely  grown 
plant  of  Fuchsia.  Pretty  baskets  may 
also  be  made  of  silver- variegated  Gera- 
nium Lady  Plymouth  and  bright  blue 
Lobelia,  or  of  blue  Convolvulus,  with 
Christine  Geranium  in  the  centre;  in 
fact,  any  flower  that  suits,  and  if  put 
in  with  good  taste,  will  look  well.  For 
large  baskets,  suited  for  lobbies,  mixed 
foliage  plants,  such  as  variegated  Se- 
dums,  Eckeverias,  Iresines  and  Centau- 
reas  have  an  effective  appearance.  A 
window-box  made  of  wood  and  lined 
with  zinc,  suspended  by  four  cords  or 
wires,  up  which  can  be  trained  creep- 
ers, also  make  a  pretty  room-ornament. 
The  great  point  as  regards  keeping 
plants  in  baskets  or  boxes  fresh  and  in 
good  health  is  to  give  plenty  of  water 
during  the  growing  season,  but  more 
sparingly  in  winter,  and  to  keep  the 
leaves  clean.  If  baskets  are  hung  high, 
there  should  be  some  means  of  lower- 
ing them,  as  it  is  troublesome  getting 
up  to  them  every  morning  with  steps. 
If  the  baskets  are  small  the  best  way  is 
to  carry  them  away  and  water  them  out- 
side; but  in  the  case  of  large  baskets 
this  can  not  be  done,  so  a  tea-tray  or 
something  of  the  kind  should  be  placed 
under  them  to  catch  the  drip.  —  The 
London  Garden. 


Double  Poinsettia. — Robert  Buist  is 
of  the  opinion  that  this  plant  can  be 
flowered  twenty  inches  across  the  crown 
and  twelve  inches  high. 


PRIMULA    JAPONICA. 

This  Primrose,  in  England  at  least, 
has  proved  perfectly  hardy,  to  which 
circumstance,  as  well  as  to  its  habits  of 
bearing  its  bright,  magenta  -  colored 
flowers  in  several  planes  or  whorls,  it 
owes  the  great  favor  with  which  it  has 
been  there  received. 

The  floriculturists  are  indebted  to  Mr. 
Fortune  for  this,  as  for  so  many  other 
flowers  prized  among  the  most  desirable 
in  cultivation — and  to  Mr.  ~W.  Bull, 
the  distinguished  London  florist,  as  be- 
ing the  first  to  introduce  it  into  Europe. 

Its  leaves  are  coarse,  oblong,  irregu- 
larly toothed,  and  the  scapes,  a  foot  and 
a  half  high,  bear  sometimes  as  many  as 
five  whorls  of  flowers,  each  flower  an 
inch  in  diameter. 

It  is  readily  increased  by  division  of 
the  root.  The  seeds,  according  to  the 
London  Agricultural  Gazette,  from  which 
we  copy,  are  "sometimes  long  in  germi- 
nating, and  they  have  been  known  to  re- 
main in  the  soil  twelve  months  and  then 
to  germinate.  It  is  therefore,  advisable 
not  to  be  too  hasty  in  emptying  the 
seed-pan." 

Mr.  E.  G.  Henderson  speaks  of  it  as 
"one  of  the  most  attractive  of  new 
hardy  herbaceous  plants,  and  by  far 
the  most  vigorous  and  robust  kind  in 
its  family  yet  introduced  to  our  gardens. 
Seed  should  be  sown  immediately  it  is 
gathered,  otherwise  it  is  most  likely  to 
lay  a  twelve-month  and  then  come  up 
like  Mustard-seed,  though  a  few  may  ap- 
pear the  first  year. — Moore's  Rural  Neio 
Yorker. 


The  varieties  of  Amaryllis  raised  from 
A.  pardina  are  likely  to  form  the  most 
useful  race  of  all.  They  flower  very 
freely,  which  is  not  the  case  with  the 
older  and  better  known  forms,  and,  too, 
in  winter  and  early  spring. — Garden. 


350 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


(Mitotic  iwtMta. 


MANNA  ON  THE   EUCALYPTUS. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  California 
Academy  of  Sciences,  Mr.  R.  E.  C. 
Stearns  remarked,  that  he  had  recent- 
ly detected  a  kind  of  manna  on  certain 
forms  of  the  Eucalyptus-trees  growing 
in  the  University  grounds  at  Berkeley. 
Doctor  A.  Kellogg  had  previously  no- 
ticed some  in  the  same  neighborhood. 

"It  occurs  sparingly ,  but  a  very  small 
quantity  having  been  found  on  a  nar- 
row-leaved species,  and  not  on  the  Euca- 
lyptus globulus.  In  my  paper  on  Aus- 
tralian forest  -  trees,  read  before  the 
Academy  in  1872,  the  following  refer- 
ence is  made  to  the  subject: 

"  '  However  obnoxious  to  parasites  in 
general  this  tree  may  be,  it  appears  it 
nevertheless  has  its  own  species  in  the 
Psylla  Eucalypti.  This  insect  is  an  Hem- 
ipteron,  and  appears  on  the  Eu.  dumo- 
sa.  It  deposits  a  species  of  manna, 
called  in  Australia  Lerp  or  Laap.  It  is 
a  white  substance,  53.1  per  cent,  of  su- 
gar syrup  and  46.9  percent,  of  a  special 
modification  of  starch.  This  is  prized 
by  the  inhabitants  as  a  manna,  and  is 
greatly  sought  for  by  the  bees,  who  con- 
vert it  into  honey.  Dobson  (entomolo- 
gy) describes  it  as  the  cup-like  cover- 
ing of  the  Psyllidce,  but  Wittstein  men-, 
tions  six  varieties  of  Psylla,  and  that 
one  species  produces  a  colored  Lerp 
handsomer  than  the  white,  but  as  a  de- 
posit beneath  the  cup-like  shields  of  the 
insect.  (See  annual  reports  of  Wiggen 
and  Husemann  of  progress  in  Pharma- 
cy, etc.,  Gottingen,  for  1870  and  1871.) 

"I  am  not  aware  of  the  presence  of 
manna  upon  any  species  of  the  Euca- 
lyptus in  California  having  been  pre- 
viously reported.  It  is  not  surprising, 
however,  that  with  the  introduction  of 
exotic  forms  of  vegetation  we  should 


also  introduce  with  them  many  species 
of  animal  life  which  are  parasitic  upon 
and  to  the  same." 


SLUGS. 

These  pests  are  one  of  the  most  com- 
mon of  injurious  and  destructive  nui- 
sances in  our  gardens.  They  are  of 
several  species  here,  and,  generally, 
the  worst  of  them  are  so  small  as  to  be 
not  easily  discernible  until  their  rava- 
ges have  effected  the  mischief  on  many 
kinds  of  plants,  especially  the  Pansy. 
Their  workings  are  also  gradual,  and  a 
plant  is  often  found  irreparably  injured 
before  these  troublesome  creatures  are 
detected.  They  attack  more  or  less  all 
flower-stems  and  roots.  They  are  ef- 
fectually destroyed  by  either  salt  or 
lime;  and  to  secure  the  contact  of 
these  with  their  bodies,  it  is  best  first  to 
water  the  soil  where  they  harbor  with 
lime-water  in  the  evening  when  they 
are  coming  out  to  feed,  sprinkling  the 
surface  at  the  same  time  with  dry  lime, 
and  at  the  end  of  a  week  applying  a 
small  surface-dressing  of  salt.  Fre- 
quent earth  -  stirring  helps  to  banish 
them.  By  using  lights  at  night  they 
will  be  found  on  the  leaves  of  plants, 
and  then  they  may  be  destroyed-  by 

hand. 

. .»  i  «. 

"FLOWER  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST"  AT 
WOODWARD'S  GARDENS. 

This  beautiful  flower  (Peristeria  elata) 
has  been  for  some  time  in  bloom  in  the 
tropical  department  of  the  conserv- 
atory at  Woodward's.  Its  leaves  are 
Lily-like.  From  the  centre  of  these 
shoots  up  a  straight  stem  about  four  feet 
high,  and  bearing  toward  the  summit 
a  row  of  white  wax-like  bells,  shaped 
like  the   cups   of   Tulips  and  an  inch 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


351 


and  a  half  iu  diameter.  In  the  heart  of 
these  flowers  sits  the  image  of  a  dove, 
so  perfect  in  outline  and  attitude  that  it 
can  not  fail  to  be  recognized  at  a  glance. 
It  is  immaculate  in  color,  save  a  few 
purple  dots  on  the  wings  and  a  delicate 
tinge  of  carmine  on  the  tiny  bill,  while 
there  is  about  it  such  an  air  of  saintly 
innocence  and  repose  that  one  can 
hardly  help  bowing  before  it,  in  imag- 
ination at  least,  as  before  a  genuine  vis- 
ion of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Professor  Asa 
Gray  describes  this  plant  as  a  native  of 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  where  it  was 
discovered  by  an  early  Spanish  Catholic. 
"No  one,"  says  he,  "  who  has  ever  seen 
the  flower  can  wonder  that  he  who  first 
beheld  it,  being  a  Christian,  reverently 
dropped  on  his  knees  before  the  won- 
derful spectacle,  murmuring,  probably, 
as  one  can  well  imagine,  in  low,  awe- 
struck tones:  " Ecce  Spiritm  Sanctus!" 
The  Peristeria  is  found  oftenest  in 
low,  marshy  grounds,  where  it  springs 
from  decaying  trees,  or  perchance  from 
the  crevices  of  rocks.  The  plant  pro- 
ceeds from  a  bulb,  and  vigorous  speci- 
mens sometimes  reach  a  height  of  six  or 
seven  feet.  Its  leaves  are  broadly 
lanceolate,  developing  in  pairs,  and  its 
flowers  are  produced  during  the  months 
of  July,  August,  and  September.  Since 
the  discovery  of  the  native  habitat  of 
the  Peristeria,  its  bulbs  have  been  dis- 
tributed among  the  conservatories  of  all 
parts  of  the  world.  Yet  it  is  rather  a 
difficult  thing  to  bring  the  plant  to  the 
point  of  blossoming,  in  an  artificial  soil 
and  climate;  therefore,  it  is  nowise 
strange  that  cultivators,  when  they  suc- 
ceed in  flowering  it,  regard  their  speci- 
mens with  affectionate  and  peculiar 
pride  and  satisfaction. 


Plant  Bulbs. — Now  is  the  time  to 
plant  out  bulbs  for  early  flowering — 
Crocuses,  Hyacinths,  Tulips,  etc. 


A  GROUP   OF  HYACINTHS. 

"We  are  indebted  to  the  kindness  of 
B.  P.  "Wellington,  importer  and  deal- 
er in  seeds,  bulbs,  etc.,  425  "Washing- 
ton Street,  for  the  very  handsome  en- 
graving of  Hyacinths  which  is  appro- 
priate to  Mr.  F.  A.  Miller's  article  on  the 
cultivation  of  bulbous  plants.  Both 
Miller  &  Sievers,  27  Post  Street,  and 
B.  F.  "Wellington  have  for  sale  a  very 
fine  and  superior  assortment  of  bulbs 
and  bulbous-rooted  plants.  The  Hya- 
cinth, common  as  it  is,  is  a  universal 
favorite  in  the  most  extended  applica- 
tion of  the  word;  the  number  of  its  va- 
rieties is  now  fully  equal  to  that  of  any 
other  florist's  flower,  and  great  improve- 
ment is  observable  in  those  of  recent 
origin.  They  are  usually  grown  for 
forcing  into  flower  in  early  spring,  when 
their  lovely  colored  blossoms  and  rich 
fragrance  lend  a  charm  hardly  other- 
wise to  be  found  at  that  season;  they 
are  equally  desirable  for  planting  in  the 
beds  of  the  flower-garden.  In  glasses 
they  are  an  elegant  ornament  in  our 
parlors,  and  for  this  purpose  occasion 
little  trouble.  This  process  is  general- 
ly well  known,  but  the  above  florists' 
firms  will  we  know  cheerfully  give  their 
customers  instruction  how  to  grow  and 
manage  them. 


OUR  FRONTISPIECE. 

Pampas  Grass  (Gynerium  Argenteum). 
— This  is  without  doubt  the  most  no- 
ble, grand,  and  elegant  grass  for  the 
embellishment  of  lawns  and  gardens  in 
cultivation.  It  exhibits  its  beautiful 
and  delicately  pinkish-tinted  tissue-like 
plumes  the  second  year  of  its  growth, 
and,  though  too  tender  for  our  eastern 
climate,  flourishes  with  us,  of  course, 
in  the  greatest  luxuriance.     The  orna- 


352 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOKTICTJLTUKIST. 


mental  grasses  in  the  East  which  are 
most  similar  to  it  but  more  hardy,  are 
the  Erianthus  Bavennce  and  striatus, 
handsome  perennials,  but  with  plumes 
inferior  to  the  Pampas  in  form,  length, 
and  fullness. 


NEW  AND  EAEE  PLANTS. 

Adiantum  Seemanni. — Though  not 
a  new  name  among  our  garden  Ferns, 
this  is  in  reality  a  new  garden  Fern, 
and  is  described  by  Mr.  Moore,  in  the 
Gardener's  Chronicle  of  March  27,  1875, 
(page  396),  as  "  a  noble  species  of  the 
Maiden-hair  Fern,  for  which  we  are  in- 
debted to  Messrs.  Veitch  &  Sons,  who 
gave  us  fronds  from  their  specimen 
plant  which  are  fully  two  feet  long, 
with  fertile  pinnae,  three  inches  long 
and  two  inches  broad.  They  have  a 
comparatively  slender  glossy  black 
stripe,  bare  at  the  lower  part,  and  bear- 
ing toward  the  top  from  four  to  eight 
of  the  magnificent  pinnse  already  noted, 
which  are  attached  by  a  slender  petiole 
an  inch  long."  It  received  a  certifi- 
cate at  the  Royal  Botanic  Society's  Fete, 
in  June,  1874,  under  the  name  of  A.  Zan- 
nii,  but  the  above  has  been  proved  to 
be  identical  with  the  Maiden-hair  de- 
scribed by  Sir  W.  Hooper,  so  long  since 
as  1851,  as  A.  Seemanni,  the  plant  pre- 
viously sold  under  this  name  being  A. 
Wilsoni. 

Poinsettia  pulcherrima  rosea-ear- 

minata.  —  This  fine  variety  of  one  of 
the  most  useful  of  winter  decorative 
plants  resembles  the  type  form  of  P. 
pulcherrima,  so  far  as  regards  growth 
and  foliage,  the  difference  consisting 
in  the  color  of  the  fine-spreading  head 
of  bracts,  which  are  large,  smooth,  and 
of  a  brilliant  rosy-carmine  hue.  In  the 
specimen  from  which  those  notes  are 
drawn  up,  the  crown  of  colored  bracts 


measured  fifteen  inches  across;  the  in- 
florescence first  branched  trichotomous- 
ly,  and  tnen  each  of  these  branches 
were  forked.  The  number  of  bracts  dis- 
played on  these  six  ramifications  "was 
forty-five,  all  perfect  in  form,  and  pure 
in  coloring,  the  larger  ones  measuring 
seven  inches  in  length,  and  upward  of 
two  inches  in  breadth.  The  bracts  are 
much  smoother  and  flatter  than  in  the 
old  form,  and  spread  out  so  as  to  form 
a  fuller  and  more  regular  crown. — W. 
Bull. 

Stenospermathim  Wallisii.— Un- 
der the  provisional  name  of  Spathiphyl- 
lum  Wallissi  Messrs.  Veitch  have  lately 
exhibited  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
and  beautiful  stove  Aroids  known  to  us, 
and  which  was  introduced  from  Colom- 
bia by  Mr.  "Wallis.  It  is,  we  believe, 
new  alike  to  science  and  garden,  and 
forms  a  new  member  of  a  genus  includ- 
ing only  three  or  four  species,  from 
Peru,  Colombia,  and  the  Amazon  dis- 
trict. As  a  decorative  plant,  its  points 
are,  its  Cordy line-like  habit,  thick  rich 
green  leaves,  and  more  especially  its 
slender,  whip  -  like,  ,erect  peduncles, 
bent  over  at  the  top,  and  bearing  a  nod- 
ding spathe  of  ivory-white  color,  like 
an  open  shell,  and  with  an  oblong  spa- 
dix,  which  bears  the  same  relation  to 
the  spathe  that  the  clapper  does  to  a 
bell. 

Hibiscus  (Rosa  sinensis)  Kermes- 
inus. — A  grand  flowering  stove-plant, 
with  the  foliage  and  general  habit  of 
other  varieties  of  this  extremely  orna- 
mental species.  The  flowers  are  large 
and  showy,  full  double,  the  petals 
broad,  round,  and  undulated,  the  three 
or  four  outer  series  reflexed,  the  cen- 
tral ones  erect,  the  innermost  consist- 
ing of  the  transformed  column  devel- 
oped into  numerous  petaliferous  lobes 
bearing  stamens  on  their  margins.     The 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


353 


color  is  a  fine  rich  carmine  crimson. 
The  plant  has  been  imported  from  the 
South  Sea  Islands. —  W.  Bull. 

Camellia,  Mrs.  General  Lee. — The 
Maryland  Horticultural  Society  offered 
a  handsome  premium  last  winter  for  the 
best  seedling  Camellia.  This  was  award- 
ed to  Mr.  John  Feast  for  the  beautiful 
variety  named  as  above.  Baltimore 
has  been  celebrated  in  the  past  for  its 
attention  to  Camellia-  raising,  and  it  is 
pleasant  to  find  her  yet  boasting  her  lau- 
rels. 

Another  Large  Water  Lily. — It  is 
reported  that  M.  von  Hulle,  of  Ghent, 
has  recently  received  seeds  of  a  Para- 
guayan Water  Lily,  which  is  said  to 
eclipse  the   Victoria  regia. 


Flowees  foe  Table  Decoeations.  — 
Flowers  are  the  only  decorations  that 
may  be  used  by  rich  and  poor  alike. 
They  are  more  beautiful  than  the  cost- 
liest service  of  silver  or  crystal  for  the 
table.  A  very  handsome  ornament  for 
the  dining-room  or  parlor  table  may  be 
obtained  at  a  small  cost,  by  having 
made  by  any  tinsmith  two  circular  tin 
trays;  one,  larger  than  the  other,  has  a 
socket  upon  the  inside,  and  the  other 
has  a  socket  upon  the  outside  of  the 
bottom.  The  shaft  to  connect  the  two 
may  be  from  ten  to  fifteen  inches  long, 
of  glass  which  can  be  bought  of  a  drug- 
gist or  at  a  china  store,  or  it  can  be 
cheaply  made  of  wood  and  painted. 
The  rod  may  be  cemented  into  the  sock- 
ets, or  the  ends  can  be  wound  with  a 
yarn  to  make  a  snug  fit;  then  it  can  be 
taken  apart  for  putting  away.  Fill  the 
trays  with  wet  sand,  and  arrange  the 
leaves  and  flowers  according  to  fancy. 
A  profusion  of  green  wild  Ferns  and 
vines  looks  well  with  a  few  flowers,  and 
a  trailing  vine  should  be  wound  around 
the  rod. 


(Swmiwutaa. 


Ukbaina,  Cal.,  October  1, 1875. 

Editob  Hoeticultueist  :  —  We  have 
many  different  kinds  of  snakes  here — 
gopher -snakes,  adders,  rattlesnakes, 
and  other  kinds.  Rattlesnakes  were 
plenty  this  summer.  I  killed  one  on 
the  23d  of  April,  with  seven  rattles.  I 
notice  the  old  ones  with  many  rattles 
are  very  fat  and  clumsy;  the  young 
ones  are  smart  like  lizards,  and  crawl 
into  very  small  places.  I  have  killed 
several  in  my  chicken-house  this  sum- 
mer. It  is  dangerous  to  put  your  hand 
into  a  chicken-coop  without  looking  in- 
to it  before  you  do  so.  I  have  remark- 
ed two  kinds  of  rattlesnakes  here — a 
small  snake  of  grayish  or  lead  color; 
the  large  of  bright  green  and  yellow 
colors.  A  neighbor  of  mine  (Mr.  Nibes) 
was  almost  fatally  bitten  by  a  small 
rattlesnake  with  two  rattles,  which  was 
secreted  under  a  piece  of  timber.  He 
did  not  see  the  snake,  and  thought  he 
had  got  a  sliver  into  his  finger. 

In  the  month  of  July  I  saw  plenty 
of  tarantulas;  they  have  great  strength 
in  their  jaws;  they  can  hold  a  half- 
pound  weight. 

Gophers  this  year  were  a  great  curse 
in  the  earth — I  think  on  account  of  the 
dry  spring.  They  effected  great  destruc- 
tion in  my  vegetable  garden.  They 
know  the  difference  between  the  kid- 
ney-potatoes and  common  blue.  They 
destroyed  more  than  half  of  my  kidney- 
potatoes,  and  ate  only  a  few  bushels  of 
the  blue.  They  eat  the  branches  of 
Currant-bushes,  but  not  the  roots;  they 
eat  the  roots  of  Raspberry-bushes;  they 
eat  Pumpkin-roots,  but  will  not  touch 
the  vines;  they  are  very  fond  of  Horse- 
radish and  Onions;  they  do  not  like 
Rhubarb  or  English  Beans.  I  caught 
a  great  many  in  traps. 

Agapius  Honchaeenko. 


354 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTURIST. 


FRUIT  CULTIVATION,  AND 
REPORT  ON  THE  FRUIT  AND  VEGE- 
TABLE MARKET. 

BY   E.    J.    HOOPEE. 

The  time  is  fast  approaching  in  Cali- 
fornia (indeed,  it  now  in  some  measure 
has  arrived)  when  manures  and  their 
applications  will  become  a  most  impor- 
tant subject  for  fruit-growers  as  well  as 
other  cultivators.  We  shall  not  now 
discuss  the  nature  and  kind  of  manures 
to  be  applied  to  all  sorts  of  fruits.  The 
animal  manures  and  their  beneficial 
properties  are  pretty  well  known,  and 
we  shall  confine  our  remarks  to  the 
proper  time  and  manner  of  applying 
them  to  orchard  and  garden  plants  or 
fruits,  whether  they  be  large  or  small. 
Provided  manure  is  of  a  fair  x^ermanent 
character,  it  does  not  very  much  mat- 
ter at  what  time  it  is  administered,  be- 
cause if  it  does  not  act  at  first  it  will 
sooner  or  later;  but  when  it  is  of  such  a 
nature  to  be  easily  dissipated,  like  some 
of  the  lighter  substances  of  fertiliz- 
ing matter,  a  knowledge  of  the  proper 
season  becomes  extremely  necessary. 
Professor  John  Lindley  observed  that 
plants  will  not  receive  the  influence  of 
manure  so  readily  at  any  season  as 
when  they  are  in  the  most  rapid  and 
steady  growth,  because  at  that  time  the 
absorbing  force  of  their  roots  and  their 
vital  energies  are  all  greatest.  From 
this  fact,  then,  we  may  reasonably 
judge  that  the  proper  time  for  a  top- 
dressing  of  almost  any  kind  of  manure 
on  this  coast  is  just  before  or  during 
our  rainy  season,  generally  from  Novem- 
ber to  March.  Of  course,  if  applied 
during  any  time  of  our  long  dry  season, 
when  vegetation  is  more  languid,  es- 
pecially herbage  of  all  kinds,  any  sort 
of  manure  will  be  found  of  comparative- 
ly very  little  effect.  All  vegetation 
flourishes  best  in  the  cooler  and  more 


moist  seasons  of  the  year.  When  a  top 
dressing  is  applied  in  the  rainy  season, 
grass  and  plants  profit  by  it  so  long  as 
they  continue  to  grow  vigorously;  but 
the  quick  approach  of  summer  daily  in- 
terferes with  the  force  of  vegetation 
and  diminishes  the  effects  of  the  ma- 
nure. On  the  contrary,  if  October  or 
November  are  the  season  chosen  for  the 
operation,  grasses,  especially  (among 
them  that  valuable  feed,  Alfalfa),  are 
beginning  to  grow  steadily,  and  there 
are  five  or  six  clear  months  at  least  dur- 
ing which  the  effects  of  the  manure  con- 
tinue to  be  felt.  It  may  be,  perhaps,  a 
matter  of  indifference  at  what  season 
such  manure  as  bones,  and  other  kinds 
of  matter  which  decompose  very  slow- 
ly, are  employed,  yet  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  upon  every  known  principle 
they  had  better  be  given  at  a  time  when 
vegetation  is  most  active;  hence  the 
every-day  practice  of  digging  manure 
into  the  borders  of  a  garden  in  our 
rainy  season,  or  shortly  before  an  an- 
nual crop  of  vegetables  or  budding  flow- 
er-plants are  about  to  be  committed  to 
the  soil. 

As  to  the  manner  of  applying  manure, 
it  must  be  obvious  that  it  can  be  of  no 
use  unless  it  is  in  contact  with  the  ab- 
sorbing parts  of  the  roots.  Now,  these 
parts  are  the  young  fibres  and  spongi- 
oles,  and  when  trees  or  plants  have  ar- 
rived at  any  considerable  size,  the  roots 
form  the  radii  of  a  circle  whose  circum- 
ference is  the  principal  line  of  absorp- 
tion. This  being  so,  if  a  plant  has  ar- 
rived at  the  state  of  a  bush  or  tree,  it  is 
useless  to  apply  manure  to  the  base  of 
the  stem,  because  that  is  precisely  where 
the  power  of  absorption  is  the  weakest, 
if  it  exist  at  all;  and  as  the  circle  formed 
by  the  roots  is  generally  greater  than 
that  of  the  branches,  the  proper  man- 
ner of  applying  manure  is  to  introduce 
it  into  the  ground  at  a  distance  from  the 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


355 


stem  about  equal  to  the  radius  formed 
by  the  branches.  And  yet,  although 
this  is  evidently  correct,  we  have  seen 
gardeners,  who  ought  to  have  known 
much  better,  persistently  administer- 
ing liquid  manure,  by  pouring  it  into 
the  soil  at  the  base  of  the  stem — or  at 
any  rate  pretty  Dear  it — which  is  much 
the  same  thing  as  if  an  attempt  were 
made  to  feed  a  man  through  the  soles  of 
his  feet. 

With  regard  to  the  pruning  of  fruit 
and  other  trees,  shrubs,  or  bushes,  if 
well  directed  it  is  one  of  the  most  use- 
ful, and  if  ill  directed  it  is  among  the 
most  mischievous  operations  that  can 
take  place  upon  a  plant.  But  we  will 
defer  speaking  of  this  until  another 
time,  and  will  devote  the  remainder  of 
our  space  in  the  present  article  to  our 
usual  subject,  the  market. 

From  about  the  last  ef  September  to 
the  first  week  in  October,  the  receipts 
of  Strawberries  were  increasing,  and  ag- 
gregated from  35  to  65  chests  of  80  lbs. 
each  per  day.  No  difficulty  was  found 
in  disposing  of  the  whole  at  rates  which 
were  remunerative  to  the  growers.  Nev- 
er .before  had  it  been  possible  at  this 
season  of  the  year  to  place  such  large 
quantities  at  anything  like  the  prices 
realized.  The  reason  was  found  in  the 
unusual  scarcity  of  late  Peaches;  also, 
in  some  fruit-growers  in  San  Jose  and 
Santa  Clara  valleys  paying  great  at- 
tention for  some  time  since  spring  to 
the  cultivation  and  irrigation  of  their 
plants,  which  were  chiefly  of  the  Hov- 
ey  Seedling  variety.  As  the  season 
has  advanced  they  seem  actually  to 
have  increased  in  size  and  good  flavor. 
We  are  enjoying  almost  a  large  crop, 
such  as  we  have  in  spring,  and  at  mod- 
erate prices  compared  with  other  sea- 
sons, at  this  time  of  the  year.  Plenty 
of  Strawberries  and  cream  in  October 
and  November.    What  say  you  to  that, 


ye  eastern  folk  ?  Do  you  wonder  that 
the  inhabitants  of  California  congratu- 
late themselves  that  they  are  living  in 
such  a  climate,  and  with  such  excel- 
lent, varied,  and  plentiful  productions, 
to  enjoy  and  revel  in?  Truly  this  is  a 
highly  favored  portion  of  the  world. 

A  few  ripe  Winter  Nelis  Pears  came 
in  about  the  8th  of  October,  but  were 
selling  at  high  figures.  There  was  no 
falling  off  in  the  supply  of  Grapes,  and 
the  low  rates  at  which  they  were  attain- 
able places  them  within  the  reach  of  all. 
The  principal  varieties  were  quotable  as 
follows:  Muscat  of  Alexandria,  10c.  to 
12^c;  White  and  Flame  Tokay,  10c.  to 
15c;  Black  Hamburg,  Rose  of  Peru, 
Sweetwater,  and  Black  Malvoisie,  6c.  to 
8c;  Isabella,  8c  to  10c;  Mission,  5c. 
to  6c;  Black  Morocco,  15c;  White 
Malaga,  12J  per  lb.  Plums  are  scarce 
at  12c  to  15c  per  lb.,  and  Pomegran- 
ates at  6c  to  10c  each.  Apples  by  the 
box  retailed  at  SI  to  §2;  Pears,  $1  to  S3, 
delivered. 

But  little  change  took  place  in  the 
prices  of  vegetables  during  the  first 
of  October.  Asparagus  was  more  plen- 
tiful, and  sold  at  35c  to  40c;  Summer 
Squash,  5c  to  6c;  Egg  Plant,  8c  to 
10c;  Chile  Peppers,  12^c;  Rhubarb, 
6c;  Horseradish,  20c  to  25c;  Mar- 
rowfat Squash,  2c  to  3c;  Green  Corn, 
20c  to  25c;  Artichokes,  25c  to  50c; 
Kale,  50c;  Watermelons,  15c  to  25c; 
Cantaloupes,  15c  to  25c;  Brussels 
Sprouts,  5c  to  6c;  Windsor  Beans, 
5c.  per  lb. 

The  arrivals  of  Strawberries  were 
still  quite  liberal,  and  all  went  off  quick- 
ly at  fair  prices.  Grapes  were  abun- 
dant, and  all  the  varieties  were  to  be 
had  at  former  rates.  The  principal 
kinds  were  as  follows:  Muscat  of  Alex- 
andria, 10c  to  12Jc;  White  and  Flame 
Tokay,  10c.  to  15c;  Black  Hamburg, 
Rose  of  Peru,  Sweetwater,  and  Black 


356 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Malvoisie,  6c.  to  8c;  Isabella,  8c.  to 
10c;  Mission,  5c  to  6c;  Black  Moroc- 
co, 15c;  White  Malaga,  12Jc  per  lb. 
The  supply  of  mountain  Peacbes  ceas- 
ed, and  the  few  in  market  were  inferior 
in  quality  and  were  neglected  by  pur- 
chasers. The  market  was  scantily  sup- 
plied with  good  Pears,  doubtless  ow- 
ing to  extensive  shipments  of  the  best 
fruit  to  the  East.  A  few  ripe  Winter 
Nelis  were  coming  forward  and  were 
bringing  high  prices.  A  few  late  Plums 
were  sold  at  12£c  to  15c  Pomegran- 
antes  were  abundant  at  6c  to  10c  each. 
Apples  by  the  box  retailed  at  $1  to  $2; 
Pears,  $1.50  for  cooking,  and  $2.50  to 
$3  for  choice  eating. 

Strawberries  were  very  abundant  dur- 
ing the  second  week  in  last  month  (Oc- 
tober), the  daily  arrivals  having  ranged 
from  50  to  100  80-lb  chests.  The  sup- 
ply has  been  so  large,  for  more  than 
two  months  past  that  people  are  al- 
most becoming  tired  of  them,  and,  not- 
withstanding the  tenderness  and  supe- 
rior quality  of  the  fruit,  the  demand  is 
becoming  less  active  and  prices  are  be- 
ginning to  weaken.  A  few  Raspberries 
were  still  to  be  had  about  the  third  week 
in  last  month  at  40c  There  was  no  dim- 
inution in  the  supply  of  Grapes.  The 
different  varieties  are  quotable  as  fol- 
lows: Muscat  of  Alexandria  and  White 
and  Flame  Tokay,  8c.  to  10c;  Black 
Hamburg,  Bose  of  Peru,  Sweetwater, 
and  Black  Malvoisie,  8c  to  10c;  Isa- 
bella and  Catawba,  10c  to  12Jc ;  Mis- 
sion, 5c  to  6c;  Black  Morocco  and 
White  Malaga,  12Jc. 

Choice  eating  Pears  are  in  better  sup- 
ply, and  Winter  Nelis  and  Beurre  Clair- 
geau  are  obtainable  at  $2.50  per  box. 
Cooking  Pears  sell  at  $1.50,  and  Ap- 
ples at  $1  to  $2  per  box,  delivered. 

Green  Corn  was  more  plentiful  than 
at  any  previous  time  this  season.  Much 
of  it,  however,  was  very  wormy,   and 


was  neglected  by  consumers.  Some 
other  varieties  of  vegetables,  including 
Lima  Beans  and  Cucumbers,  began  to 
show  signs  of  giving  out,  and  prices 
were  advancing.  Tomatoes  were  still 
abundant,  and  were  it  not  for  the  large 
quantities  taken  by  the  canners,  prices 
would  have  been  the  lowest  of  the  sea- 
son. Asparagus  retailed  at  35c  to  40c, 
Summer  Squash,  5c  to  6c ;  Egg  Plant, 
8c.  to  10c;  Chile  Peppers,  12|c;  Rhu- 
barb, 6c  to  8c;  Horseradish,  20c  to 
25c;  Marrowfat  Squash,  2c  to  3c; 
Green  Corn,  20c  to  25c;  Artichokes, 
25c.  to  50c;  Kale,  50c;  Watermelons, 
15c  to  25c ;  Cantaloupes,  15c  to  25c ; 
Brussels  Sprouts,  5c  to  6c ;  Windsor 
Beans,  5c  per  lb. 

About  the  middle  of  last  month  (Oc- 
tober), small  quantities  of  Raspberries 
and  Blackberries  of  the  second  crop 
were  for  sale  at  the  fruit -stalls,  the 
former  at  40c  and  the  latter  at  35c  to 
40c  per  lb.  It  was  thought  about  ten 
weeks  ago  that  we  had  seen  the  last  of 
these  berries  for  the  season,  but  it 
seems  that  the  same  influence  that  has 
brought  in  an  abundant  late  crop  of 
Strawberries  has  had  a  similar  effect 
upon  these.  The  Strawberries  appear 
to  become  larger  as  the  crop  advances 
in  age.  They  are  of  good  size  and  ten- 
der, but  rather  acid,  making  a  fine  ber- 
ry with  sugar  and  cream.  They  will, 
no  doubt,  last  in  good  quantities  until 
the  regular  rainy  season  arrives,  when 
they  will  probably  rot  gradually. 

Grapes  were  little  less  abundant;  no 
change  was  made  in  prices.  We  quote 
Muscat  of  Alexandria,  10c  to  12Jc; 
White  and  Flame  Tokay,  10c  to  15c ; 
Black  Hamburg,  Rose  of  Peru,  Sweet- 
water, and  Black  Malvoisie,  6c  to  8c ; 
Isabella,  8c  to  10c ;  Mission,  5c  to  6c; 
Black  Morocco,  15c;  White  Malaga, 
12|c  per  lb.  There  was  a  better  sup- 
ply of  eating  Pears,  though  prices  for 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


357 


the  choicest  were  unusually  high.  Win- 
ter Nelis  and  Beurre  Clairgeau  are  the 
best,  and  sold  by  the  single  box  at  $2.50 
to  §3.  Cooking  Pears  were  plentiful  at 
$1.50  to  §2.  Apples  by  the  box  retailed 
at  $1  to  $2. 

Tomatoes,  Green  Corn,  Cucumbers, 
and  Summer  Squash  are  still  coming 
forward  in  liberal  quantities.  Aspara- 
gus retails  at  35c.  to  40c;  Summer 
Squash,  5c.  to  6c;  Egg  Plant,  8c  to 
10c;  Chile  Peppers,  12Jc;  Rhubarb, 
6c  to  8c;  Horseradish,  20c  to  25c; 
Marrowfat  Squash,  2c  to  3c;  Green 
Corn,  20c  to  25c ;  Artichokes,  25c  to 
50c;  Kale,  50c;  "Watermelons,  15c  to 
25c ;  Cantaloupes,  15c  to  25c ;  Brus- 
sels Sprouts,  5c  to  6c ;  Windsor  Beans, 
5c  per  lb. 

GMtorittl  (Slatting. 

Lakge-floweked  Pelargoniums. — Cut- 
tings of  these  should  now  be  taken,  if 
not  already  done,  in  order  to  have  a 
supply  of  young  plants  for  the  follow- 
ing season.  Our  plants  have  been  stand- 
ing in  the  open  air  to  ripen  their  growth 
before  being  cut  down  for  cuttings;  for 
it  is  important  that  the  wood  be  thor- 
oughly matured  of  which  it  is  intended 
to  make  cuttings.  Our  cuttings  have 
been  pricked  off  into  our  cutting-box, 
which  is  somewhat  elevated  under  a 
north  wall  and  well  drained.  They  can 
also  be  inserted  in  48-pots,  putting 
eight  or  ten  cuttings  into  a  pot,  and 
placing  the  pots  on  a  shelf  in  the  green- 
house. The  cuttings  are  not  long  in 
making  root,  and  when  they  begin  to 
show  they  have  struck  root  by  making 
an  upward  growth  they  may  be  shifted 
singly  into  small  60-pots,  using  a  soil 
made  up  of  fibery  yellow  loam,  plenty  of 
leaf-mold  and  sand.  Care  must  be  had 
that  the  pots  be  well  drained.  The 
pots  can  be  safely  wintered  on  a  warm 


shelf  in  a  greenhouse,  or  in  any  dry 
place  that  is  moderately  airy,  and  where 
frost  will  not  harm  the  plants.  If  green 
fly  affect  them  during  the  winter,  as  it 
will  plants  that  are  kept  close,  a  little 
soft-soap  and  water  will  soon  cleanse 
the  leaves,  or  they  may  be  fumigated 
with  tobacco-smoke,  which  will  not  on- 
ly rid  the  plants  of  this  pest,  but  slaugh- 
ter the  fly  into  the  bargain. 


M.  Jean  Sislet's  New   Double   Pel- 
argoniums.— These  varieties  are  a  very 
great  acquisition,  all  of  them  being  ex- 
ceedingly beautiful,  and  quite  a  distinct 
race  of  plants  from  the   double   sorts 
which  have  originated  in  this  country. 
I  have  succeeded  in  flowering  four  of 
them  which  M.  Sisley  kindly  sent  me 
for  trial.     They  are  all  of  a  dwarf  and 
compact  habit  of  growth,  with  foliage 
of  medium  size,  and  distinctly  zoned;, 
the   flowers   are   all   semi -double    and 
large,  with  the  centres  loosely  filled^  up 
with   smaller  jDetals  than  the   outside 
ones,  and  in  every  instance  they  form 
large  globular  trusses  thrown  well  above 
the  foliage,  supported  by  stout  flower- 
stalks.     In   color  they  are   novel   and 
distinct.     Louis  Agassiz  has  light  shad- 
ed pink  flowers,  which  are  really  very 
beautiful.    Louis  Ruchner :  flowers  with 
salmon-colored  centre,  the  outside  pet- 
als being  of  a  light  bright  pink  color. 
Henri  Lecoq :  flowers  of  a  salmon-shad- 
ed pink,  the  plant  being  of  dwarf  habit, 
with   heavily  zoned    foliage.     Sylphide 
is,  perhaps,  the  most  beautiful1  of  all, 
the  flowers  being  of   a  rich  mauve   or 
rosy-pink  color.      Of  older  sorts  by  the 
same  raiser,  George  Sand  is  a  magnifi- 
cent variety,  being  a  great  advance  up- 
on Aline  Sisley.     The   flowers  are  ex- 
ceedingly large,  with  the  outside  petals 
well  rounded;  the  color  very  light  rosy 
pink,   or  nearly  white.     When  grown 


358 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


under  glass  the  plant  is  of  dwarf  habit, 
with  somewhat  small  and  peculiarly 
formed  leaves,  slightly  zoned.  Fran- 
cois Pertusati:  centre  of  the  flower  salm- 
on, with  lighter  colored  marginal  petals. 
Talabot:  the  flowers  of  this  variety  are 
of  a  rich  velvety  deep  amaranth  color, 
and  are  an  improvement  upon  those  of 
the  older  variety — G-loire  de  Lyons. — 
Gardener's  Chronicle. 


The  preparation  of  Figs  for  market  is 
given  as  follows :  Sheets  are  held  under 
the  trees — clear  of  the  ground — and 
the  fruit  is  shaken  into  them.  They 
are  then  placed  into  baskets  and  dipped 
in  a  bath  of  strong  potash  lye  for  about 
two  minutes,  and  then  dipped  into  clean 
water.  This  is  to  remove  the  gum  on 
the  outside  of  the  fruit  and  to  improve 
the  color.  They  are  then  placed  upon 
.hurdles  to  dry  in  the  sun,  or  in  a  dry- 
house,  and  when  soft  enough  to  pack 
closely  are  pressed  tightly  into  wooden 
drums  or  boxes.  The  drums  hold  about 
fifteen  pounds,  and  must  not  be  made 
of  pine,  as  it  injures  the  flavor. 


Hop  -  growing.  —  A  correspondent  of 
the  Syracuse  (N.  Y.)  Journal  gives  some 
hints  tipon  this  subject  that  may  be  in- 
teresting to  the  Hop-growers  of  this 
State:  "In  setting  new  yards,  the 
hills  should  be  seven  feet  by  eight  or 
eight  feet  by  eight,  the  roots  set  with  a 
bar  just  as  early  as  possible.  Potatoes 
are  a  better  crop  to  go  with  them  than 
Corn,  and  one  large  hill  between  each 
way  is  enough,  for  the  crop  we  are 
seeking  for  is  Hops,  and  by  not  crowd- 
ing them  this  year  there  will  be  a  good 
crop  next.  Tie  up  medium-sized  white 
vines,  three  to  large  poles  and  two  to 
small  ones.  If  they  run  too  fast,  par- 
ticularly in  tent-yards,  check  them  by 


cutting  off  the  hoods.  This  will  give 
more  branches  on  the  strings  and  less 
of  a  cluster  at  the  top  of  the  centre 
pole.  Cultivate  every  time  it  rains,  or 
oftener,  till  harvest,  but  shallow  in  Au- 
gust. After  picking,  fill  up  the  pole- 
holes  in  the  hills,  to  protect  the  roots 
from  water  and  freezing.  Plant  nurs- 
ing hills  with  summer-grown  sets  in  the 
fall.  New  yards  should  be  grubbed  in 
the  fall  and  all  surface-roots  cut  off,  for 
the  plowing  will  be  likely  to  tear  them 
off  next  summer.  In  harvesting  it  is 
very  important  to  begin  the  picking 
well  at  the  very  first;  start  and  go  from 
box  to  box  as  fast  as  possible,  for  sever- 
al hours,  to  get  them  started  right. 
Be  careful  to  secure  good  box-tenders, 
and  have  them  do  their  duty  well,  for 
this  is  only  justice  to  the  pickers.  They 
can  get  along  so  much  faster  with  just 
the  right  kind  of  tending.  It  is  well  to 
have  pickers  enough,  so  that  we  can  af- 
ford to  lose  a  few  discontented  grum- 
blers or  turn  away  some  poor  ones. 
Finally,  the  strictest  diligence  and  good 
nature  must  be  practiced  from  first  to 
last. 

The  Papaw. — The  Papaw  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  (Asimina  or  Anona  triloba) 
is  one  of  our  fruit-trees,  common  in  the 
forests  and  swamps  of  the  Western 
States,  and  it  bears  a  Banana  -  shaped 
fruit  three  or  four  inches  long,  which 
is  quite  palatable. 

This  tree,  when  planted  in  Louisiana, 
thrives  well  in  any  soil,  and  under  ev- 
ery exposure,  and  produces  every  year 
large  quantities  of  fruit  which,  by  cul- 
tivation, can  be  improved  as  to  size  and 
flavor;  these  bear  when  four  or  five 
years  old.  The  Papaw  is  almost  un- 
known in  this  city,  and  but  few  speci- 
mens are  to  be  found  in  the  State.  This 
fruit-tree  certainly  deserves  a  place  in 
every  orchard,  and  even  in  every  gar- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


359 


den.  The  following  are  the  advan- 
tages I  have  found  it  to  possess  over 
other  fruit  or  ornamental  trees:  First, 
it  requires  no  extra  care  in  planting  or 
afterward.  Second,  it  will  grow  in  any 
soil.  Third,  it  requires  no  training  or 
pruning,  the  plant  always  growing  in 
a  symmetrical  form  like  the  Magnolia, 
and  generally  growing  no  higher  than 
fourteen  or  fifteen  feet.  Fourth,  it  nev- 
er fails  to  produce  yearly  a  large  crop 
of  fruit  in  July  and  August.  Fifth,  it 
is  free  from  all  insects. — Eastern  Ex. 


Fresh  Flowers. — Fair  readers,  do 
you  wear  fresh  flowers  in  your  hair 
every  evening  at  dinner  ?  It  is  a  charm- 
ing custom.  They  are  lovely  to  look 
at,  delicious  to  smell.  Ladies  are 
(mercifully)  made  as  a  rule  shorter  than 
the  less  worthy  sex;  and  when  you  take 
a  pretty  girl,  to  dinner,  the  Moss-roses 
and  Honeysuckle  in  her  hair  heighten 
her  fascination.  The  scent  blends  with 
that  of  the  Pine-apple  at  dessert  and  of 
the  fragrant  Mocha  in  the  withdrawing- 
room  in  an  exquisitely  magical  way : 

"And  whiff  of  Eglantine  from  ladies'  tresses 
A  most  magnetic  mystery  possesses; 
Twined  in  soft  hair,  the  happy  floweret  tries 
To  imitate  their  beauty,  fails,  and  dies." 


The  Passion  vine  oe  Australia.. — The 
introduction  of  new  plants  and  fruit- 
trees  adapted  to  the  climate  of  Califor- 
nia is  deservedly  receiving  considerable 
attention  at  the  hands  of  our  seedsmen 
and  nurserymen.  The  latest  importa- 
tion of  the  kind  to  come  under  our 
notice  is  the  fruit-bearing  Passion-vine, 
seeds  and  samples  of  the  fruit  of  which 
were  received  by  O'Connor  &  Co.,  426 
Sansome  Street,  by  the  last  Australian 
steamer.  This  variety  (Passifloraedulis) 
is  the   most  hardy  of  the  fruit-bearing 


kinds,  and  will  succeed  and  give  boun- 
tiful crops  of  its  agreeable  subacid 
fruit  in  sheltered  locations  in  most  por- 
tions of  the  State.  A  few  plants  have 
been  already  introduced,  and  have  fruit- 
ed in  this  city  and  at  San  Rafael.  There 
are  others  of  the  two  hundred  species 
of  the  family  that  produce  finer  fruit 
than  this,  but  will  not  endure  our 
frosts.  The  fruit  of  Passifiora  edulis  is 
of  purple  color,  oval  in  shape,  about 
the  size  of  an  egg,  and  containing  an 
agreeable,  cooling,  subacid  pulp.  The 
vine  is  an  evergreen,  and  in  localities 
subject  to  frost  should  be  trained  up 
the  side  of  a  building  or  piazza. 


Some  curious  experiments  have  been 
made  in  France  to  test  how  far  the  hu- 
midity of  the  atmosphere  is  affected  by 
forests.  Two  sets  of  instruments  for  re- 
cording humidity  were  provided,  one  in 
a  forest,  and  the  other  in  the  open  air, 
a  short  distance  off,  each  set  being  plac- 
ed about  fifty  feet  from  the  ground. 
The  records  show  that  during  the  first 
sis  months  of  1874  more  rain  fell  in  the 
forest  during  each  month  than  in  the 
open  field;  the  total  rain-fall  in  the  for- 
est was  1\  inches,  and  in  the  open  field 
a  fraction  less  than  seven  inches.  The 
difference  each  month  was  favorable  to 
the  forest. 


Caterpillars,  when  in  their  nest,  can 
easily  be  killed,  if  within  reach  even  by 
climbing.  Use  slippers,  or  stockings 
only,  in  climbing,  so  as  not  to  injure 
the  bark  of  the  tree.  Those  out  of 
reach  on  the  extremities  of  limbs  may 
be  killed  by  burning,  if  the  injury  or 
death  of  the  ends  of  the  limbs  is  not  ob- 
jectionable. Wind  and  tie  a  woolen 
cloth  around  ihe  end  of  a  pole  (making 
a  ball  as  large  as  a  pint  bowl);  saturate 


360 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


the  clotli  with  kerosene  oil;  set  fire  to 
the  oil  and  hold  the  burning  mass 
under  the  nest. 


Tulip  Beds. — These  are  often  planted 
■without  order  or  design.  By  a*proper 
arrangement  of  the  colors,  a  greatly  im- 
proved effect  is  produced.  If  you  have 
a  sufficient  supply  of  bulbs  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  properly  assorted,  you  may  di- 
vide them  under  the  four  principal  heads 
of  red,  purple,  white,  and  yellow.  The 
beds  should  be  circular  or  elliptical.  If 
circular,  they  are  more  easily  marked 
out.  Set  a  small  stake  in  the  centre, 
and  then  begin  to  plant  the  bulbs  in 
successive  circles,  working  outward. 
There  should  be  about  three  circles  of 
each  color,  to  make  them  appear  in 
broad  distinct  bands.  If  there  are  sev- 
eral shades  of  color  in  your  supply,  keep 
each  single  circle  distinct,  and  let  the 
different  colors  blend  or  pass  into  each 
other,  arranging  them  like  the  shades 
of  the  rainbow.  If  you  have  beds  from 
which  bedding  plants  are  about  to  be 
taken  within  doors,  you  may  set  Tulip 
bulbs  in  these,  and  have  a  brilliant  dis- 
play early  next  season. 


Various  Perfumes  of  Roses. — A  wri- 
ter in  the  London  Garden,  after  remark- 
ing that  Mignonette,  Heliotrope,  Ver- 
bena, Violet,  Orange-blossoms,  etc.,  has 
each  its  peculiar  odor  all  the  world  over, 
speaks  of  the  endless  variety  in  the 
scents  of  the  Rose,  and  he  mentions  sev- 
enteen distinct  sorts,  among  which  are 
the  Sweetbrier  scent,  the  Moss  Rose 
scent,  the  Myrrh-scented  Ayrshire,  the 
China  Rose,  Damask  Perpetual,  Scotch 
Rose  scent,  Old  Tea  scent,  etc.  Anoth- 
er, termed  the  Verdier  scent,  and  which 
takes  in  many  newly  introduced  Roses, 
is  comxDared  to  that  of  Apple  blossoms, 


or  perhaps  more  correctly  to  a  delicate 
Rose  scent,  with  a  suspicion  of  turpen- 
tine about  it,  pleasantly  blended.  Roses 
give  off  more  perfume  after  having  been 
gathered  a  little  while. 


"  Chestnut-trees  two  years  old ,  which 
were  transplanted  last  Spring,"  says  the 
Nevada  City  Transcript,  "  can  be  seen 
around  town  with  nuts  growing  on  them. 
In  some  cases  the  trees  have  grown  six 
feet  in  height  the  present  season.  Their 
condition  explodes  the  theory  that  those 
kinds  of  trees  will  not  bear  transplant- 
ing." 

METEOROLOGICAL    RECORD, 
For  the  Month  ending  October  31,  1875. 

(Prepared  for  The  Hoeticultueist  by  Thos.  Tennent, 
Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No. 
423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office) . 

BAROMETER. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.12  in. 

do  12  m 30.12 

do  3  p.  at 30.11 

do  6p.m 30.10 

Highest  point  on  29th,  at  12  M.,and  30th,  at  9  a.m.  30.20 
Lowest  point  on  the  6th,  at  6p.m 29.96 

THERMOMETER. 
(  With  north  exposure  and  free  from  reflected  heed.) 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 62° 

do  12  m 68° 

do  3  p.m 68° 

do  6  p.  m 61° 

Highest  point  on  6th,  at  12  m.,  and  7th  at  3  p.m 80° 

Lowest  point  on  the  14th  at  6  p.m. 54° 

SELF -REGISTERING    THERMOMETER. 

Mean  height  during  the  night 53° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  8th  and  27th 58° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  29th 47° 

WINDS. 

East  and  north-east  on  9  days;  north-west  on  6  days; 
south-west  on  5  days;  west  on  11  days. 

WEATHER. 

Clear  all  day  10  days;  cloudy  all  day  4  days;  variable 
on  17  days. 

RAIN   GAUGE.  Inches. 

27th 0.18 

28th 0.04 

Total 0.22 

Sharp  earthquake  shock,  lasting  2  seconds,  on  the  14th 
at  5.55  p.m. 


LoMARIA     pIBBA 
(Dwarf  Tree-fern). 


THE 


SIS    vm  n 

iPPlJUll  111 


AND   FLORAL  MAGAZINE. 


Vol.  V.  SA3T   FRANCISCO,  DECEMBER,    1875.  No.  12. 


SALMON  FJSHING  AND  EUEALIZING  ON 

THE  NOYO    EIVEE   ON    THE 

NOETHEEN   COAST. 


BT  E.  J.  HOOPER. 


In  our  angling  articles  we  have  sev- 
eral times  referred  to  the  kindred  char- 
acter and  near  relationship  of  angling 
with  Horticulture,  and  its  close  connec- 
tion with  the  examination  of  the  beau- 
ties of  nature  and  various  kinds  of  veg- 
etation. In  our  late  trip  to  the  north, 
with  a  congenial  companion,  for  the 
main  purpose  of  beguiling  to  our  creel 
the  lordly  salmon,  we  had  many  oppor- 
tunities not  only  of  becoming  acquaint- 
ed with  a  species  of  that  fish  which 
ascends  the  rivers  of  oiir  coast  at  this 
season  of  the  year,  but  likewise  of 
learning  something  of  the  trees,  shrubs, 
and  flowers  which  have  their  habitat 
in  that  portion  of  our  slope. 

With  regard  to  the  kind  of  salmon 
family  which  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
capturing  in  very  considerable  abund- 
ance from  a  boat  by  the  use  of  the  rod 
and  reel,  and  trolling  with  what  is 
termed  the  spoon-bait,  we  found  it  to  be 
the  hook  -  bill,  of  the  quinnat  genus, 
which  invariably  runs  up  all  the  rivers 
emptying  into  the  Pacific  above  San 
Vol.  V.— 33. 


Francisco  Bay,  about  the  month  of  No- 
vember. Of  these  fish  we  took  in  the 
space  of  seven  days,  by  means  of  the  spin- 
ning-spoon armed  with  a  triangle  of 
moderately  sized  hooks,  seventy-three 
fish,  averaging  about  nine  pounds  each, 
and  weighing  642J  pounds.  These  game 
fellows  afforded  us  ample  sport,  labor, 
and  occupation,  in  first  playing  with 
them  till  they  became  worn  out  or 
"  drowned,"  and  then  lifting  them  into 
the  boat  by  means  of  the  landing  -  net, 
or  hooking  them  under  the  gills  by  a 
hook  attached  to  our  weighing -scales, 
improvised  sometimes  for  the  emer- 
gency, as  we  often  found  that  the  spoon- 
hooks  became  most  provokingly  en- 
tangled in  the  meshes  of  our  net ; 
which  led  to  our  resolving  that,  on  all 
future  piscatorial  occasions,  we  would 
provide  ourselves  with  a  sharp  gaff  or 
hook  to  pierce  the  captured  fish  and 
lift  them  into  our  skiff.  The  largest  two 
fish  we  secured  weighed  each  thirteen 
lbs,  and  the  smallest  two  (salmon-trout) 
one  pound  and  a  half  each  ;  all  the  rest 
varied  from  six  to  twelve  and  a  half  lbs. 
The  hook-bills  were  nearly  all  white  or 
silvery  on  sides  and  belly,  with  dark 
black-spotted  backs,  the  exceptions  be- 
ing those  which  were  of  a  pink  or  red- 


362 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOETICULTUBIST. 


dish  color,  and  which  were  declared  by 
some  of  the  inhabitants  on  the  Noyo 
to  be  those  just  fresh  from  the  sea,  but 
by  others,  those  which  had  been  for 
some  length  of  time  dwellers  in  the 
fresh  -  water  of  the  upper  part  of  the 
river.  Of  the  truth  of  either  of  these 
statements  we  were  not  at  that  time  ca- 
pable of  deciding.  We  observed  that 
the  female  fish  were  more  marked  along 
the  back  with  dark  spots  than  the  males. 
The  males  have  much  more  of  the 
hooked  bill  than  the  females,  and  have 
longer  prominent  tushes  at  the  extreme 
ends  of  their  jaws ;  the  females  having 
much  smaller  hooks  and  teeth.  As  is 
usual  with  all  the  salmon  tribe,  the 
male  is  longer  and  more  slender  in  the 
body,  while  the  female  is  shorter  and 
deeper  or  broader.  The  flesh  of  these 
hook-bills  for  the  table  is  much  inferior 
and  more  dry  than  the  larger  and 
bluer  variety  of  salmon  which  follow 
them  next  flood,  and  which  are  similar 
to  the  handsome  and  better  -  flavored 
Sacramento  River  fish.  The  average 
weight  of  these  latter  is  twenty-seven 
pounds,  and  they  are  darker  in  color, 
the  females  having  dark  red  spots. 
These  spawn  in  eddies  of  the  stream 
among  rocks  and  small  stones,  as  well  as 
clear  sand.  The  spring  salmon  are 
the  last  that  come  up,  and  are  found 
and  remain  in  some  small  stream,  or 
the  smaller  portions  of  some  large  riv- 
ers. They  generally  average  thirty-two 
inches  in  length,  and  weigh  twelve  and  a 
half  lbs.  These  are  similar  to  some  of 
the  San  Andreas  lake  "salmon-trout," 
and  are  far  superior  to  the  other  fish 
before  described.  Some  persons  term 
them  salmon-trout,  and  we  think  this 
is  their  proper  name.  These  are  small- 
.  er,  more  slender,  and  longer  and  round- 
er than  the  other  two  sorts.  The 
females  are  sometimes  named  "silver 
salmon."     They     are    very    rapid    in 


action,  and  their  flesh  is  of  a  light  red, 
that  of  the  male  being  yellowish  red. 
We  found  that  none  of  the  salmon  will 
take  the  artificial  or  natural  fly  except 
in  the  spring  of  the  year.  The  salmon- 
trout  that  come  up  the  river  Noyo  in 
January  or  February  are  the  best  to 
eat.  These  fish  are  very  nearly  square 
in  the  tail,  but  the  outside  color  is  the 
same  as  the  salmon.  They  swim  deep, 
and  are  hard  to  catch  with  any  bait  ex- 
cept in  January,  but  are  mostly  taken 
in  nets.  The  hook  -  bill  or  hook  -  nose 
salmon  come  up  into  the  Noyo,  Navarro 
and  Big  rivers  after  the  first  copious 
rains.  There  they  remain  near  the 
mouth  until  subsequent  and  frequent 
rains,  when  they  proceed  upward  to 
spawn.  Very  large  salmon  -  trout  go 
up  the  rivers  in  January  or  February, 
as  above  stated,  and  they  are  the 
best  fish  of  the  above  named  kinds. 
None  of  these  salmon  are  so  good 
after  much  rain  creates  great  floods. 
They  then  change  both  their  color 
and  appearance  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent. The  hook-bill  take  the  trolling 
or  spinning  spoon  with  red  and  white 
feathers,  or  red  worsted  covering  the 
hooks;  one  side  of  the  spoon  should 
also  be  red.  They  are  much  speared 
by  some  people — also  shot.  In  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Noyo  there  are 
plenty  of  large  brook -trout — indeed 
most  of  the  northern  coast  abounds  in 
them.  The  salmon-trout  are  captured 
with  various  baits  in  January.  Some- 
times they  are  caught  at  that  time  from 
the  Pacific  Ocean  shore  with  a  spoon 
and  a  long  rod.  The  Noyo  River  is  a 
beautiful  stream  clothed  on  both  shores 
with  an  abundance  of  varied  vegeta- 
tion. 

Now  for  a  few  remarks  upon  the 
abundant,  beautiful  and  remarkable 
vegetation  that  almost  entirely  covers 
these  northern  regions.     From  the  town 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


363 


of  Cloverdale,  where  we  took  the  stage 
the  first  day  for  the  North  Fork  of  the 
Navarro  River,  the  country  is  hilly  and 
mountainous,  and  robed  in  most  parts 
in  lovely  deciduous  and  evergreen 
trees  and  shrubs.  The  next  day's  jour- 
ney toward  the  coast  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Noyo  River  was  through  the  magnificent 
Redwood  forests,  many  of  the  trees  of 
which  were  300  feet  high  and  from  12  to 
14  feet  in  diameter  at  their  base.  The 
.whole  of  this  country  and J  the  red- 
woods extending  about  150  miles  north 
and  south,  and  50  miles  east  and  west, 
abound  in  numerous  deer,  with  num- 
bers of  brown  or  cinnamon  and  black 
bears,  and  the  more  northern  parts 
with  elk  and  grizzly  bears,  of  which 
the  two  former  feed  in  the  summer- 
time on  the  vast  quantities  of  black- 
berry and  raspberry  bushes,  and 
in  the  fall  on  two  or  three  kinds  of 
huckleberries  or  whortleberries  (vaccin- 
nium)  on  the  many  prairies,  when  they 
are  chiefly  shot  by  the  hunters.  The 
Salmon-berry  is  not  good  to  eat,  being 
insipid  in  flavor.  It  is  up  to  July 
about  the  size  of  a  pigeon's  egg  and 
nearly  quite  red  in  color.  There  are  at 
least  three  kinds  of  Huckleberries. 
One  is  small  and  black  with  rather  a 
tough  skin  and  large  seeds,  and  not 
very  sweet.  Another  is  blue  or  pur- 
ple, larger,  more  sweet  and  juicy,  with 
smaller  seeds  and  thinner  skin.  The 
third  is  of  a  bright  clear  crimson  and 
almost  as  good  as  the  blue  or  purple 
sort,  with  leaves  as  large  as  the  east- 
ern kind.  All  the  above  mentioned 
Huckleberries  are  fall  fruits. 

Besides  plenty  of  small  game  there 
are  vast  numbers  of  water-fowls.  The 
ducks  up  toward  the  north  are  much 
finer  for  the  table  than  farther  south, 
because  they  feed  upon  a  kind  of  duck- 
grass  which  has  a  small  tuber  on  its 
root  rather  like  a  potato,   but  much 


smaller.  They  are  great  destroyers  of 
salmon-eggs.  The  widgeons  we  found 
peculiarly  tender  and  delicious  to  the 
palate.  A  species  of  grouse  frequent 
the  small  prairies.  The  immense  mill 
and  lumber  trade  is  very  interesting 
here,  at  the  mouths  of  all  the  rivers, 
and  the  lumber-camps  in  the  forests. 

I  cannot  close  this,  perhaps,  already 
too  long  article,  without  bearing  testi- 
mony to  the  excellent  accommoda- 
tions at  the  comfortable  Noyo  Tavern 
kept  by  the  obliging  John  Byrnes .  The 
fare  was  the  best  that  we  ever  ex- 
perienced out  of  San  Francisco;  and 
the  terms  quite  moderate.  The  cost  of 
the  whole jtrip  for  two  persons  for  two 
weeks  was  about  $100. 


THE    USES    TO     WHICH    SOME    WILD 
FEUITS    MAY  BE    PUT. 


BY    A    FEU1TIST. 


In  the  last  number  of  the  Hobticbxt- 
tjeist  was  presented  a  list  of  the  wild 
fruits  of  the  "West.  The  list  was  a  lim- 
ited one,  and  may  be  much  enlarged, 
and  might  include  many  wild  fruits  of 
other  parts  of  the  world,  such  as  those 
of  California,  which  were  only  slightly 
alluded  to.  It  would  be  interesting, 
also,  to  touch  upon  their  profitable  eco- 
nomic uses.  That  valuable  fruit  the 
wild  Blackberry,  independent  of  its 
great  value  in  its  fresh  state,  is  of  great 
importance  as  a  preserve.  In  that  rela- 
tion it  deserves  to  be  largely  employed. 
Everybody  is  willing  to  admit  its  excel- 
lent qualities.  In  many  country  pla- 
ces, both  in  Europe  and  the  United 
States,  in  families  a  nice  jam  is  made  of 
this  fruit,  mingled  with  Apples.  The 
excellent  flavor  and  wholesomeness  of 
Blackberries  are  hardly  ever  sufficiently 
appreciated.  Blackberries,  with  only  a 
little  time  and  care,  may  be  converted 
into   excellent  jelly  as  nice  and  firm, 


364 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


with  their  own  peculiarly  delicious  fla- 
vor, as  the  much  praised  ' '  cheese " 
which  was  once,  if  not  now,  popular  in 
England,  made  of  Damsons.  In  Cali- 
fornia all  our  Blackberries,  wild  and 
cultivated,  ripen  generally  early  in  Ju- 
ly. Blackberries  are  often  dried,  and 
used  medicinally  from  their  astringency, 
and  a  syrup  is  prepared  from  them 
which  is  considered  cordial  and  refresh- 
ing. Millions  of  bushels  are  also'  can- 
ned. 

Wild  Strawberries,  Raspberries,  and 
Huckleberries  or  Whortleberries,  as 
well  as  Cranberries,  are  also  dried  for 
keeping  by  the  late  improvements  in 
drying-machines  by  rapid  evaporation 
with  artificial  heat. 

Elderberries  (Sambucus  nigra),  which 
ripen  in  this  country  in  July,  are  made 
in  many  places  into  a  home-made  wine, 
in  the  old  and  cold  countries  and  the 
East,  mulled  in  the  winter;  but,  in  the 
mild  winters  of  California  it  is  not 
quite  so  appropriate  a  comforter. 

In  a  late  salmon-fishing  trip  to  the 
northern  portion  of  this  State,  by  the 
writer,  three  species  of  the  Huckleberry 
were  met  with :  the  large  bluish  species 
(Vaccinium  tenellum)  very  rich  and  jui- 
cy, with  rather  a  tender  skin;  the  black 
sort,  smaller,  with  larger  seeds  than  the 
above,  and  thicker  skin,  with  less  juice; 
and  a  blood-red  sort,  similar,  it  is  said, 
to  the  Mount  Ida  variety  ( V.  vitis  Idcea) 
scarcely  to  be  eaten  raw,  but  they  are 
made  into  pies,  and  a  jelly  is  made  from 
them  which  is  eaten  with  baked  meat  or 
venison.  This  preserve  is  also  consid- 
ered by  the  country  people  an  excellent 
medicine  in  colds,  sore  throats,  and  all 
irritations  of  the  mouth  or  fauces. 

The  large-fruited  American  Cranberry 
(Oxycoccus  macrocarpus)  has  round  red 
berries,  which  are  better  flavored  than 
the  European  varieties.  The  erect  or 
upland  Cranberry,  another  species,  has 


scarlet   or  purple  berries,  quite  trans- 
parent, and  of  an  exquisite  taste. 

The  most  common  American  Cran- 
berries are  of  a  slightly  oval  shape,  and 
a  bright  red  color.  They  somewhat  re- 
semble Currants,  but  are  more  than 
twice  as  large,  and  have  no  remains  of 
the  calyx  at  the  top  of  the  berry.  The 
berries  are  mostly  picked  by  the  Indian 
squaws,  though  Cranberry  rakes  are 
now  much  used.  The  business  com- 
mences in  September,  and  may  contin-. 
ue  until  the  marshes  are  frozen.  In 
some  years  more  than  10,000  bushels  of 
Cranberries  are  shipped  from  St.  Paul, 
which  find  a  market  all  the  way  down 
the  coast  of  the  Mississippi  River  to  its 
mouth,  and  in  the  West  India  Islands. 
They  are  also  found  in  British  Colum- 
bia, and  are  exported  for  about  $10,000 
annually. 

In  the  United  States  wild  Crab-ap- 
ples and  sour  Pears  and  Apples  are, 
like  their  Huckleberries  and  Blackber- 
ries, preserved  by  boiling  for  five  or  six 
minutes  in  cans,  adding  from  four  to 
six  ounces  of  sugar  to  the  quart  as  to 
the  Huckleberries  and  Blackberries,  but 
as  to  the  Pears  and  Apples  with  the 
addition  of  a  greater  quantity  of  sugar. 

The  Bilberry  ( Vaccinium  myrtillus)  is 
considered  superior  to  the  Huckleberry 
in  general.  It  is  very  widely  diffus- 
ed oyer  all  the  northern  countries.  Its 
color  is  bluish-black,  about  the  size  of 
Currants,  covered  with  a  mealy  bloom, 
ripe  in  October  or  November.  The 
berries  are  eaten  in  tarts,  or  with  cream, 
or  made  into  jelly  or  puddings. 

The  snowy-flowered  Currant,  like  the 
Gooseberry  (R.  niveum)  of  the  north- 
west coast  of  this  continent,  has  deep 
rich  purple  fruit,  about  the  size  of  the 
Cherry  Currant,  which  ripens  in  July 
and  August.  The  flavor  is  entirely  des- 
titute of  the  flatness  which  is  more  or 
less  perceptible  in  even   the  best  En- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


365 


glish  Gooseberries;  in  lieu  of  which  it 
lias  a  rich,  subacid,  vinous,  rather  per- 
fumed flavor,  which  is  extremely  agree- 
able. The  fruit  is  rather  too  acid  to  be 
eaten  raw;  but  when  ripe  it  makes  de- 
licious tarts  or  pies. 

The  principal  food  of  some  of  the 
northern  Indians  of  this  continent  con- 
sists of  small  wild  fruit,  such  as  Cher- 
ries, the  Salmon-berry,  and  all  the  wild 
berries,  many  of  which  the  writer  has 
already  named,  with  the  Service-berry, 
etc.,  which  they  dry  and  make  into 
cakes. 

The  Persimmon,  a  well  known  wild 
fruit  in  many  of  the  States  eastward  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  much  eaten. 
In  some  States  it  is  kneaded  with  bran, 
made  into  cakes  and  baked. 

The  red  berries  or  fruit  of  the  Mount- 
ain Ash  (Pyims  Aucuparia),  which  ri- 
pens in  September,  are  dry  and  abound 
in  malic  acid,  but,  in  times  of  scarcity, 
they  have  been  dried  and  ground  as  a 
substitute  for  flour.  (In  Scotland  the 
fruit  is  made  into  a  jelly,  which  is  eaten 
with  venison). 

The  fruit  of  the  Choke-cherry  (Ce- 
rasus  virginiana),  can  scarcely  be  said 
to  be  edible  in  itself,  but  it  is  often 
pounded,  stones  and  all,  and  mixed  by 
the  Indians  with  pemmican. 

This  inquiry  and  research  into  the 
many  wild  fruits  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  might  be  much  further  enlarged, 
and  the  results  are  certainly  interesting 
and  rather  curious. 


"Weeds  are  probably  about  the  most 
prolific  things  in  the  world.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  one  plant  of  the  red  poppy 
bears  fifty  thousand  seeds,  one  sow- 
thistle  eighteen  thousand,  one'  corn- 
cockle twenty-five  hundred  and  ninety, 
the  charlock  four  thousand,  a  ground- 
sel six  thousand  five  hundred,  and  the 
black  mustard  twelve  thousand. 


A  NOTICE  OF  SOME  OF  OUE  USEFUL 
BIRDS. 

BY   AX   ORNITHOLOGIST. 

Many  kinds  of  our  smaller  birds  are 
looked  upon  by  our  fruit  cultivators  as 
a  great  scourge.     Thus  it  has  been  for 
many  years  that  the  poor  despised  and 
hated  blackbirds,  both  the  red-winged 
and  others,  have  been  regarded  as  great 
pests.     Means  of  various  kinds  are  de- 
vised to   prevent  then-  approaching  to 
the  orchards  and  vineyards,  but  inde- 
pendent of  their  vast  numbers  in  Cali- 
fornia, this  has  been  to  little  or  no  pur- 
pose, and  nothing  short  of  the  entire, 
extermination   of  their  race,  which   is 
quite  impossible  at  present,  could  be 
regarded  by  any  sensible  persons  as  a 
remedy  for  the  evil,  if  it  is  an  evil,  of 
their  existence;  consequently  the  havoc 
which   is    continually  being    made   in 
their  ranks  by  the   murderous   gun  is 
great,  but,  perhaps,  happily  ineffectual. 
People   are   beginning    to   look    upon 
these  birds  and  many  others  in  a  differ- 
ent light  from  what  they  formerly  did. 
It  has  been  observed  by  those  who  have 
carefully  examined  the  habits  of  several 
genera  or  families  of   birds,  that  the 
amount  of  good  they  do  silently  in  the 
spring  and  summer,  and  probably  near- 
ly all  the  year  in  the  mild  climate  of 
California,  more  than  compensates  for 
the  mischief  they  do  to  the  fruits  and 
grains.     If  a  flock  of  birds  alight  upon 
a  field  of  standing  Wheat  or  Corn,  or 
upon  a  Cherry  orchard,  the  inference  is 
they  have  come  to  steal;   while  if  the 
same  flock  should  settle  upon  a  piece  of 
fresh-ploughed  ground  where  there  is 
no   crop  to  suffer  from  their  depreda- 
tions, but  little    notice  is  taken  of  it, 
when   perhaps  they  may  be  rendering 
us  signal  service.      So  for  years  these 
blackbirds     and    meadow -larks,    etc., 
have  most  probably  suffered  from  the 


366 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


unjust  conclusions  which  we  had  drawn 
in  reference  to  their  real  merits. 

Every  farmer  or  horticulturist  knows 
that  fresh  plowing  at  any  time  in  the 
year  in  this  State  turns  up  many  grubs, 
worms,  and  the  larvse  of  thousands  of 
insects,  which,  if  left  to  themselves, 
would  be  sufficient  to  destroy  a  large 
portion  of  whatever  crop  the  ground 
would  produce.  But  just  at  this  time 
come  the  immense  flocks  of  blackbirds, 
meadow  -  larks,  with  many  other  still 
smaller  birds  than  these,  which  have 
been  equally  objects  of  the  farmer's  or 
fruitist's  aversion,  and,  as  they  subsist 
almost  exclusively  upon  this  kind  of 
food,  they  resort  at  once  to  the  open 
fields  and  cultivated  grounds,  where 
they  fully  compensate,  in  all  probabili- 
ty, for  the  few  ears  of  grain  or  corn  or 
fruit  which  they  destroy  when  these  are 
ripe. 

There  is  another  bird  which,  among 
the  orioles,  enjoys  a  wide  range  on  our 
coast,  from  this  State  northward  to  the 
Columbia  River  —  Bullock's  oriole — 
which  seems  to  fill  the  same  position  as 
that  occupied  to  the  eastward  by  the 
Baltimore  oriole,  which  it  very  much 
resembles  in  appearance  as  well  as  in 
habits. 

This  orchard  oriole  I  have  frequently 
observed  a  familiar  occupant  of  our  or- 
chards and  gardens  in  summer,  where 
it  renders  signal  service  by  ridding  the 
fruit-trees  of  hosts  of  worms  and  nox- 
ious insects  and  their  larvse,  albeit  it 
does  help  itself  to  a  slice  from  many  a 
Cherry,  but  what  of  that  ?  The  best  way 
is  to  plant  enough  fruit  for  the  birds  as 
well  as  ourselves,  for  they  well  repay  us 
for  the  fruit  they  destroy  in  the  vast 
number  of  insects,  etc.,  that  they  de- 
vour. The  meadow-lark  is  one  of  our 
prime  favorites,  as  it  justly  merits  a 
prominent  place  among  our  compara- 
tively few  song-birds  on  this  coast,  for 


the  sweetness  and  plaintive  melody  of 
its  few  simple  notes,  with  which,  in  com- 
pany with  some  other  much  smaller 
birds,  it  is  among  the  first  to  welcome 
the  dawn.  The  notes  of  our  oriole,  too, 
are  few  and  simple,  but  their  peculiar 
sweetness  and  harmony  can  not  fail  to 
charm  the  ear.  The  insessores,  or 
perching  buds,  embrace  a  vast  variety 
of  birds  exhibiting  a  corresponding  va- 
riety of  form.  A  large  majority  of  them 
feed  upon  insects  and  their  larvse  or 
eggs.  The  swallows,  fly-catchers,  etc., 
pursue  their  food  upon  the  wing,  and 
destroy  vast  numbers  of  mosquitoes, 
etc.  These  offer  but  little  inducement 
for  shooters,  gunners,  or  "  pot-hunt- 
ers," but  many  of  the  thrushes,  such  as 
the  robin,  and  even  the  mocking-bird, 
with  the  meadow-lark  and  the  common 
dove,  seed  as  well  as  insect-eaters,  are 
unfortunately  often  made  victims  of 
these  aspirants  to  be  sportsmen,  for  the 
sake  of  the  provender  they  afford  for 
the  kitchen.  All  the  above-named 
birds,  except  the  meadow -lark,  seek 
their  food  among  the  branches  and 
leaves  of  the  trees,  feeding  mostly  upon 
worms,  the  chrysalis,  or  the  eggs.  On 
this  account,'  if  not  for  their  delightful 
songs,  they  should  be  protected  as  much 
as  possible  by  us  all  against  the  indis- 
criminate slaughter  of  the  gunners  who 
are  not  contented  with  the  privileges  of 
the  legitimate  killing  of  the  game-birds 
proper  in  their  appointed  and  several 
seasons. 


Hybrid  Perpetual  Roses. — A  late  wri- 
ter says,  "In  autumn  trim  them  close, 
within  four  inches  of  the  ground,  and 
cover  with  leaves  and  litter.  In  spring, 
clean  off  the  ground,  manure  well,  and 
when  they  are  done  blooming  cut  off  the 
flower  shoots."  This  treatment  is  well 
adapted  to  cold  regions,  and  it  will  give 
an  abundance  of  flowers. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


367 


THE  BULB   SEASON. 


BY  F.   A.    MILLER. 

Referring  again  to  my  remarks  on 
"  Hyacinths,"  in  the  last  month's  Hor- 
ticulturist, it  may  be  proper  to  add 
that  the  early  forcing  of  Hyacinths  is 
much  easier  accomplished  with  bulbs 
which  have  been  cultivated  here  for  sev- 
eral years  than  with  those  of  recent  im- 
portation; and  while  freshly  imported 
bulbs  will  hardly  ever  bloom  by  Christ- 
mas, those  taken  up  from  the  ground 
here  can  easily  be  had  in  bloom  by  that 
time.  The  cause  of  this  difference  is 
plain  enough  to  be  seen.  All  imported 
bulbs  will  flower  under  very  ordinary 
treatment  in  or  out  of  doors  during 
February  and  March,  while  in  colder 
climates  under  the  same  treatment  their 
flowering  is  retarded.  Soon  after  the 
flowering  season  the  leaves  begin  to  de- 
cay, and  the  bulb  has  become  dormant 
again  by  the  1st  of  May.  It  being  nec- 
essary that  the  bulb  should  remain  in 
dormant  condition  for  five  or  six  months, 
we  may  have  those  cultivated  and  ripen- 
ed here,  in  bloom  in  November  and 
December.  I  think  if  this  result  can  be 
attained  by  the  cultivation  of  the  Hy- 
acinth on  a  large  scale,  eastern  florists 
would  gladly  pay  a  better  price  for  the 
bulbs  than  they  are  accustomed  to  do 
now,  for  the  sake  of  having  Hyacinths 
in  bloom  on  or  before  Christmas.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  other  bulbs,  par- 
ticularly Lilies,  which  are  also  very 
useful  for  florists,  if  they  can  be  brought 
into  bloom  during  the  earlier  winter- 
months.  An  experiment  of  this  kind 
would  be  desirable.  Certainly  our  old 
stock  of  Hyacinths  flowered  last  year 
exceedingly  fine  in  the  open  air  during 
the  month  of  January,  and  they  were 
ready  to  dig  up  again  in  April,  if  it  were 
desirable. 

Another  early   flowering  bulb  is  the 


Narcissus,  which,  unfortunately,  has 
come  into  disrepute  here,  on  account 
of  the  extremely  inferior  Chinese  Nar- 
cissus, peddled  in  our  streets  so  largely 
and  cheaply.  The  Narcissus  now  cul- 
tivated in  Europe  for  the  market  com- 
prises many  beautiful  varieties,  and 
these  are  hardly  ever  seen  in  any  col- 
lection here.  Those  known  as  "  Tazet- 
tas  "  are  either  white  or  yellow,  single 
or  double,  the  cups  being  of  a  different 
and  distinct  shade.  The  flowers  of 
these  are  large  and  very  fragrant.  An- 
other class  of  them  are  popularly  known 
as  "  Jonquils,"  all  of  which  are  yellow, 
single  or  double.  The  flowers  are  small 
but  also  sweet-scented;  five  or  six  bulbs 
should  be  planted  in  a  five-inch  pot. 
The  third  class  comprises  a  number  of 
other  species,  among  which  we  find  the 
old-fashioned  "Daffodil,"  large  double 
yellow  flower;  the  "  Pheasant's  Eye" 
(poeticus),  pure  white,  with  red  crown, 
a  very  beautiful  variety;  the  "  Incom- 
parable," primrose  and  yellow  crown; 
and  other  most  desirable  varieties.  The 
treatment  of  the  Narcissus  is  not  con- 
nected with  any  difficulty  whatever, 
either  in  pots  in  the  house,  or  in  the 
garden.  They  do  not  require  any  pro- 
tection, and  will  flower  early  without 
forcing,  in  this  climate. 

A  great  number  of  failures  in  bulb- 
culture  must  be  attributed  to  excessive 
watering.  If  the  soil  is  dry  when 
bulbs  are  potted,  it  is  desirable  to  wa- 
ter after  planting,  but  no  more  water 
should  be  given  until  roots  are  formed, 
and  the  foliage  makes  its  appearance. 
It  should  always  be  remembered  that 
only  a  growing  plant  needs  water,  and 
no  plant  can  be  considered  in  a  grow- 
ing state  unless  roots  are  forming. 

Crocuses  are  also  very  desirable  for 
early  flowering,  and  while  they  seem 
better  adapted  to  a  cold  climate,  we 
have  no  difficulty  in  flowering  them  dur- 


368 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


ing  December  and  January.  They  re- 
quire to  be  planted  early  in  autumn. 
If  grown  in  pots,  at .  least  five  bulbs 
should  be  planted  in  a  five-inch  pot;  if 
grown  in  the  garden,  they  should  be 
grown  in  clumps  or  masses,  as  they  pro- 
duce a  much  better  effect  this  way,  than 
if  planted  singly.  The  bulbs  of  Cro- 
cuses are  cheap,  and  one  can  afford  to 
plant  them  in  large  numbers. 

"VVe  should  not  lose  sight  of  the  old- 
fashioned  Snowdrop.  Like  Crocuses, 
they  are  much  better  adapted  to  cold 
climates,  but  nevertheless,  they  do  very 
well  with  us  under  ordinary  treatment. 
A  cool  temperature,  such  as  one  enjoys 
out  of  doors  during  our  winters,  will 
bring  them  into  bloom  very  rapidly. 
From  five  to  ten  may  be  planted  in  a 
pot;  and  if  grown  in  the  garden,  they 
should  also  be  planted  in  clumps. 


THE  VINTAGE  OF  FRANCE. 


Paris,  September  27, 1875.— The  vin- 
tage season  has  again  arrived  and  all 
France  is  engaged  upon  this  rich  and 
important  harvest.  In  two-thirds  of 
the  communes  of  France  the  opening 
of  the  vendanges  is  the  great  event  of 
the  year,  and  the  official  and  religious 
forms  with  which  it  is  surrounded  con- 
tribute largely  to  the  public  interest  in 
it.  There  are  no  vineyards  in  the  De- 
partment of  the  Seine;  but  in  the  De- 
partment of  Seine-et-Oise,  at  Suresnes 
and  Argenteuil,  the  eastern  slopes  and 
hillsides  are  covered  with  vines,  pro- 
ducing a  wine  known  as  le  petit  bleu  de 
Suresnes.  It  is  little  better  than  vine- 
gar. The  most  of  it  is  used  for  the 
manufacture  of  this  necessary  article, 
but  the  better  classes  of  wines  made  in 
these  localities  are  sold  in  the  cabarets 
under  the  name  of  "  little  blue."  Dur- 
ing the  past  few  years  the  Parisians 
have    taken  to   the   habit   of    visiting 


Suresnes  during  the  vintage,  not  alone 
to  witness  the  curious  spectacle  of  the 
vendangeurs  at  their  work,  but  for  the 
more  prosaic  object  of  taking  a  purge. 
When  the  juice  of  the  grape  is  first 
pressed  out,  before  fermentation  has 
fairly  begun,  the  effect  of  the  wine  is 
like  that  produced  by  sweet  cider  when 
taken  in  considerable  quantities  as  it 
comes  from  the  press.  Three  or  four 
glasses  of  new  wine  have  the  medicinal 
effect  required,  and  its  action  is  not  ac- 
companied by  the  colic  or  cramps  pro- 
duced by  most  of  the  purgative  waters 
of  Europe.  Indeed,  the  effect  pro- 
duced is  similar  to  that  of  a  good  dose 
of  castor-oil,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
medicine  is  very  agreeable  to  the  palate. 
Thousands  of  persons  here  have  great 
faith  in  this  sweet  wine  cure,  and  not 
for  the  world  would  they  miss  their  an- 
nual visits  to  wine-presses  of  Suresnes 
as  soon  as  the  vintage  has  been  officially 
opened.  All  who  try  it  express  them- 
selves in  enthusiastic  terms  regarding 
the  good  effects  of  this  species  of  cure, 
and  while  I  should  not  like  to  take  the 
responsibility  of  recommending  it,  there 
may  be  some  doctors  who  would  think 
it  worth  while  sending  a  certain  class  of 
patients  here  by  way  of  experiment. 
The  grape  cure,  which  is  pretty  much 
the  same  thing,  has  become  exceeding- 
ly popular,  and  Prince  Grortschakoff  has 
found  it  so  efficacious  in  his  case  that 
he  tries  it  every  year.  By  going  from 
place  to  place  the  cure  can  be  contin- 
ued for  nearly  a  month,  as  the  vint- 
age opens  at  different  dates  in  the  dif- 
ferent sections.  Yesterday  I  went  out 
to  Argenteuill  and  saw  the  vendangeurs 
at  work.  It  is  always  a  curious  sight. 
Still  more  carious  was  the  scene  at  the 
wine-presses,  where  hundreds  of  Paris- 
ians were  assembled  and  waited  to  take 
their  turn  at  the  gourd  after  the  pay- 
ment of  a  few  sous.     I  need  not  specify 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


369 


the  character  of  the  jokes,  worthy  of 
Rabelais  oftentimes,  that  were  freely 
circulated  in  the  crowd,  but  gayety, 
good  humor,  and  frequently  great  hilari- 
ty everywhere  prevailed. 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  that 
the  harvesting  of  the  ripened  grapes  is 
not  left  to  the  will  or  caprice  of  the 
wine-grower.  No  one  has  a  right  to 
begin  until  the  publication  of  what  is 
called  the  ban  des  vendanges.  Before 
the  revolution  the  vintage  bans  were  is- 
sued by  the  feudal  lords  of  the  district, 
but  since  the  abolition  of  the  old  feudal 
laws  the  bans  have  been  preserved  as 
a  police  regulation.  Every  year,  there- 
fore, the  Prefects  in  the  seventy-sis  de- 
partments in  which  wine  is  grown,  is- 
sue a  decree,  stating  that  the  vintage 
will  commence  in  fifteen  days,  and 
designate  the  precise  day  for  each  of 
the  communes  under  their  jurisdiction. 
Due  regard  is  had,  of  course,  to  the 
maturity  of  the  grape  in  each  locality, 
and  also  to  the  necessities  of  labor. 
Whenever  possible,  the  schedule  of  the 
bans  is  so  arranged  that  the  vendan- 
geurs  can  begin  in  the  commune  where 
the  grapes  are  supposed  to  be  ripest, 
and  go  straight  through  the  department, 
thus  avoiding  the  long  night  journeys 
they  would  have  to  make  if  the  bans 
were  issue'd  in  a  hap-hazard  fashion. 
In  the  large  towns,  like  Bordeaux,  Tou- 
louse, Lyons,  Marseilles,  Dijon,  and 
Auxerre,  the  opening  of  the  vintage  is 
announced  by  prefectoral  decree,  print- 
ed upon  white,  paper  and  posted  up 
throughout  the  department  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  laws.  As  I  have  more 
than  once  remarked,  in  France  white 
paper  for  posters  is  reserved  for  the  use 
of  the  Government,  and  all  other  plac- 
ards, whether  electoral  addresses  or 
business  announcements,  must  be  print- 
ed .  upon  colored  paper.  In  smaller 
places  it  is  the  Mayor  who  announces 


that  the  Prefect  has  ordered  the  open- 
ing of  the  vintage,  and  in  the  villages 
and  hamlets  this  is  done  by  the  public 
crier,  who  appears  with  his  drum,  gen- 
erally when  the  people  are  coming  out 
of  church,  and,  after  beating  it  until 
he  has  collected  a  crowd  about  him,  the 
crier  reads  the  Mayor's  order  from  the 
manuscript.  This  habit  is  still  pre- 
served in  many  places  of  considerable 
size.  At  Clisson,  in  La  Vendee,  where 
I  happen  to  be  a  small  proprietor,  the 
habit  of  having  the  decrees  of  the  Ad- 
ministration, auction  sales,  and  other 
public  items  announced  by  the  town 
crier  is  retained  by  tradition,  although 
the  same  thing  is  published  by  printed 
placards  posted  upon  the  walls.  There 
is  a  certain  amount  of  utility  in  this 
double  publication,  for  it  prevents  per- 
sons from  pleading  that  they  cannot 
read,  an  excuse  for  a  violation  of  the 
Mayor's  orders.  The  crier  is  bound  to 
beat  his  drum  at  the  door  of  all  the 
churches  and  in  the  public  place  of 
every  hamlet  or  bourg  in  the  commune. 
The  bans  must  be  published  fifteen  days 
before  that  fixed  for  the  opening,  and 
in  wine-growing  hamlets,  the  visit  of 
the  crier  is  awaited  with  anxiety.  As 
soon  as  he  appears,  a  crowd  collects 
about  him.  He  makes  his  solemn*  en- 
try accompanied  by  a  large  escort,  and, 
proud  of  his  uniform  and  of  the  import- 
ance of  his  mission,  he  beats  his  drum 
longer  than  necessary,  perhaps,  for  the 
amusement  of  admiring  children,  then 
draws  a  formidable  looking  document 
from  his  belt.  "Oyez,  Oyez,  Oyez!"  he 
cries  three  times,  then  announces  that 
"  in  the  name  of  M.  le  Maire,  the  vin- 
tage will  be  opened  on  and  after"  such 
a  date. 

In  Burgundy  and  the  south  of  France, 
where  the  people  are  all  religious,  the 
ceremony  of  publishing  the  vintage 
bans  is  regarded  as  a  public  fete.     Af- 


370 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


ter  the  morning  mass  all  rush  to  the 
spot  where  the  crier  stands  beating  his 
drum,  and  after  the  reading  there  are 
cries  of  Vive  M.  le,  Ifaire,  when  that 
functionary  is  popular;  great  joy  pre- 
vails, and  the  bells  of  the  church  begin 
a  lively  carrillon.  This  is  heard  by 
those  in  the  farm-houses,  who  get  out 
the  baskets  and  casks  used  for  the  vint- 
age, and  set  them  upon  the  grass  to 
greet  the  eyes  of  those  returning  from 
church.  The  evening  is  passed  in  fes- 
tivities. During  the  fortnight  that 
elapses  everything  is  prepared,  and 
when  the  important  day  arrives  every 
one  is  in  readiness  to  begin  work  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  masters 
then  go  to  the  public  place  to  recruit 
their  force  from  the  vendangeurs  who 
have  arrived  during  the  night,  some  of 
them  coming  from  distant  parts  of  the 
country.  Hundreds  of  nomadic  har- 
vesters come  from  districts  where  wine 
is  not  cultivated,  on  account  of  the 
superior  wages  paid  during  the  grape 
harvest.  This  force  is  composed  of  old 
men,  robust  women,  and  young  girls 
with  stout  backs,  solid  shoulders,  a 
well-developed  biceps,  and  sometimes 
with  remarkable  pretty  faces.  They 
have  to  have  stout  legs  as  well,  for  it  is 
no  easy  work  to  climb  the  steep  hill- 
sides, carrying  upon  the  back  a  hod  of 
grapes  that  grows  heavier  and  heavier 
every  moment.  In  the  Bocage  and 
some  other  places  the  masters  take  their 
hands  to  a  mass  said  at  five  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  where  all  are  expected  to 
pray  for  bounteous  vintage.  After  mass 
all  go  to  the  vineyards,  and  after  strap- 
ping the  wooden  hods  upon  their  backs, 
they  wait  until  the  master  indicates  to 
each  his  range  of  vines.  This  is  for  the 
purpose  of  placing  the  young  strong 
men  in  advance,  so  as  to  leave,  for 
modesty's  sake,  the  young  girls  behind 
them  in   mounting   the   steep   ascent. 


But,  when  fired  by  emulation,  and  only 
intent  upon  their  work,  the  girls  are 
apt  to  pass  the  laggards,  and  think  of 
nothing  but  the  glory  of  coming  out 
first  at  the  end  of  their  line  of  vines. 
The  same  feeling  animates  them  that  is 
seen  in  mowers,  and  every  one  knows 
what  burdens  of  ridicule  are  heaped 
upon  the  head  of  the  man  who  lags  be- 
hind and  comes  in  after  his  companions 
have  taken  a  momentary  repose  and 
sharpened  their  scythes  for  a  fresh  start. 
When  the  vendangeurs  have  been  placed, 
the  master  gives  the  signal  to  begin;  all 
strike  up  a  lively  harvest  song,  and  go 
at  the  work  with  a  will.  When  the 
wooden  hods  are  filled  they  are  placed 
in  a  cart  and  sent  off  to  the  press. 
The  hods  are  water-tight  like  casks,  for 
the  weight  of  the  grapes  presses  a  great 
deal  of  juice  from  the  bunches  first 
thrown  in,  and  this  has  to  be  preserved. 
At  night,  despite  their  fatigue,  the  ven- 
dangeurs enjoy  their  harvest  feast,  al- 
ways ending  in  a  dance,  which  recalls 
the  ancient  bacchanales;  but  instead  of 
being  licentious,  as  in  pagan  days,  these 
dances  are  simply  gay.  The  ancient 
Grauls,  we  are  told,  were  in  the  habit 
of  carrying  their  gods  about  the  vines 
before  beginning  the  vintage,  and  some 
vestiges  of  the  ancient  customs  are  still 
preserved  in  Languedoc,  where  the 
priests  are  called  out  to  bless  the  vines, 
and  where  the  people  carry  the  sacred 
relics  of  their  church  or  the  statue  of 
the  patron  saint  of  the  locality  through 
their  vineyards.  These  statues  are  cov- 
ered with  vine  leaves  and  bunches  of 
grapes,  and  resemble  the  picture  of 
Bacchus,  or  of  the  bacchantes.  In 
many  of  these  vintage  scenes  we  find 
relics  of  the  customs  of  more  than  two 
thousand  years  ago. 

A  few  words  about  the  superior  quali- 
ty of  wines  may  be  found  of  interest. 
Great  precautions  are  taken  with  three 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


371 


or  four  vintages  in  France,  and  theven- 
dangeurs  are  not  recruited  from  the  or- 
dinary run  of  such  laborers.  They  are 
all  picked  men,  very  well  paid,  and  are 
made  to  understand  that  they  occupy 
positions  of  trust.  Take  Clos-Vougeot 
for  example,  the  first  quality  of  wine 
produced  in  the  world,  and  held  at  a 
price  which  places  it  beyond  the  reach 
of  all  but  a  few  crowned  heads  and 
archi-millionaires.  The  vintage  of  the 
Clos-Vougeot  is  as  solemn  as  a  religious 
ceremony,  and  the  men  are  made  to  un- 
derstand that  every  cluster  of  grapes  is 
worth  about  its  weight  in  gold.  Yet 
even  the  confidential  agents  employed 
to  gather  the  grapes  have  to  do  so  under 
the  eyes  of  inspectors,  and  a  strict 
guard  is  kept  over  the  baskets.  Every 
year  a  company  of  soldiers  arrive  from 
Dijon,  and  are  posted  as  sentinels  about 
the  vineyard  and  about  the  buildings  in 
which  the  grapes  are  stored.  A  powder 
magazine  or  a  lot  of  cavalry  forage 
could  not  be  more  carefully  guarded. 
This  guard  is  kept  up  until  the  wine  is 
put  in  bottles.  As  Clos-Vougeot  is  sold 
all  over  the  world,  arid  at  prices  far  be- 
low those  paid  for  it  on  the  spot,  one 
naturally  presumes  that  it  is  not  all 
genuine.  I  should  be  extremely  sus- 
picious of  almost  any  Clos-Vougeot  of- 
fered for  sale  at  reasonable  prices,  and 
perhaps  those  who  do  not  know  the 
peculiar  marks  of  the  vintage,  would  do 
well  to  take  some  other  brand.  But 
there  is  an  excellent  wine  grown  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  which  may  bear  the 
name  out  of  France,  and  which  is  really 
a  superior  wine.  There  is  Chateau- 
Lafitte,  also,  of  which  enormous  quan- 
tities are  sold.  That  wine,  on  the  spot, 
at  wholesale,  is  worth  from  $3  50  to  $4 
per  bottle,  but  yet  genuine  wines  of  this 
vintage  can  be  purchased  for  less.  The 
secret  is  in  the  different  pressings. 
The  first  quality  is  made  after  a  very 


light  pressing  of  the  grapes.  The  sec- 
ond quality  is  made  from  the  juice  that 
comes  from  a  harder  pressing,  and 
which  contains  some  of  the  pulp  of  the 
grape,  and  a  slight  flavor  of  the  skin. 
A  harder  pressing  crushes  some  of  the 
seeds  as  well  as  the  skins,  and  this  forms 
a  genuine  Chateau-Lafitte,  but  of  the 
third  quality.  The  greater  portion  of 
the  wine  sold  under  this  name,  however, 
comes  from  the  surrounding  vineyards, 
all  of  which  produce  an  excellent  quali- 
ty of  wine. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  wine 
crop  is  the  most  important  of  all  in 
France,  its  value  largely  exceeding  that 
of  all  kinds  of  grain.  In  ordinary  years 
it  is  estimated  at  considerably  over  two 
milliards  of  francs.  For  twenty  years 
its  exportation  alone  has  had  a  mean 
value  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
of  francs,  and  in  1873  France  sold  three 
hundred  millions'  worth  of  her  wines. 
In  addition  to  this  there  is  sixty  mil- 
lions' worth  of  brandy.  The  vintage 
contributes  three  hundred  and  fifty  odd 
millions  to  the  budget  of  the  State,  be- 
sides paying  large  sums  in  octroi  taxes 
to  the  towns  in  which  it  is  consumed. 
From  these  estimates  one  can  readily 
comprehend  the  general  interest  taken 
in  the  annual  vintage,  for  a  superior 
wine  crop  means  national  prosperity. 
When  the  vintage  is  poor  the  whole 
country  is  pinched;  when  it  is  good  the 
entire  nation  feels  at  ease.  Fortunate- 
ly for  us  the  present  wine  crop  promises 
well,  and  it  is  supposed  that  1875  will 
count  among  the  notable  years. — New 
York  Times. 


The  Rose-Slug. — Put  the  fourth  of  a 
pound  of  white  hellebore  and  half-pint 
of  soft  soap  in  a  pail  of  water,  and  mix 
well  together.  Apply  this  with  a  gar- 
den syringe  every  morning  to  the  under 
sides  of  the  leaves. 


372 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


DODDEK,    OE  LOYE-YIXE   {Cuscuta). 


BY  DR.  A.  KELLOGG. 


Of  this  infestor  of  Alfalfa  or  Lucerne 
fields  we  have  several  species.  The 
beautiful  orange  patches  seen  in  our  salt 
marshes  is  the  Cuscuta  subinclusa.  C. 
ceanothi,  Behr,  infests  such  hushes  as 
the  Tea-tree  or  Wild  Lilac.  G,  Calif  ar- 
nica preys  upon  a  much  wider  range  of 
promiscuous  vegetation.  Cuscuta  epi- 
thymum  is  also  liable  to  be  introduced 
with  Alfalfa. 

As  we  are  often  interrogated  on  the 
subject  of  these  curious  plants  in  a  man- 
ner that  implies  a  degree  of  ignorance 
of  their  natural  history,  which  if  better 
known  would  enable  the  inquirer  to  see 
the  reason  why  certain  directions  given 
for  their  extermination  should  be  ob- 
served, we  preface  a  word  on  this  point. 

Love-vines  belong  to  the  Convolvula- 
cce,  or  Morning-glory  family.  Of  course 
they  have  flowers  and  seed.  They  look 
like  a  mass  of  orange-colored  threads  or 
brass  wires;  leafless,  save  a  few  scales; 
whitish  or  creamy  flowers  in  clusters, 
and,  like  Morning-glories,  twining  al- 
ways against  the  sun,  or  from  the  west, 
south  to  east.  We  have  observed  it  in 
all  stages  of  growth.  First  as  its  silk- 
like thready  root  descends  into  the  earth; 
and  then  as  the  little  translucent  orange 
thread  ascends  in  search  of  some  living 
plant.  Finding  nothing  to  feed  upon 
it  dies;  or  found,  it  seizes  its  prey,  and 
then  throws  out  tiny  cuttle-fish-like  hol- 
low cupo  or  suckers,  through  which  it 
sucks  from  the  bark  or  stem  the  sap  of 
the  plant  attacked.  This  established, 
the  root  dies,  or,  as  we  may  say,  lets  go 
at  the  ground.  After  this  stage  its  ca- 
reer is  too  manifest. 

First,  then,  if  it  has  seed  like  any 
other  weed  or  tares,  the  farmer  and 
herdsman  must  sift  his  alfalfa-seed  well 


in  a  fine  sieve,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  any 
dodder-seeds.  Having  clean  ground, 
etc.,  that  is  common  sense.  Next  the 
ground  must  not  be  unduly  irrigated, 
for  many  reasons — of  which  we  forego 
particular  detail  in  this  short  note.  In- 
deed, little  that  is  new  can  be  offered 
relative  to  this  great  nuisance;  certain- 
ly not  in  empirical  ways.  Nor  do  we 
place  much  confidence  in  these,  except 
as  subordinate  and  co-operative  means. 
Perhaps  drilling  nine  or  ten  inches 
apart,  and  so  keeping  clean,  would  be 
well.  Thus,  also,  from  eight  to  twelve 
pounds  of  seed  only  are  required  to  the 
acre,  instead  of  twenty  to  twenty-five 
pounds.  But  whatever  method  of  seed- 
ing is  adopted,  if  already  invaded,  the 
patches  must  be  mowed  out  before  the 
seed  ripens,  and  packed  off  the  ground, 
and  better  burned.  Some  pasture  close, 
for  the  same  reason,  and  then  allow 
crops  for  the  mower  afterwards — this  is 
not  always  convenient.  There  are  oth- 
er modes,  such  as  continued  breaking 
with  a  rake,  etc.,  but  I  pity  the  man 
who  rakes  it  about  much.  Finally,  will 
any  of  your  readers  give  us  their  expe- 
riences ? 


The  Bouquet  Pea. — Peter  Grieve,  to 
whom  we  are  indebted  in  a  great  meas- 
ure for  the  beautiful  variegated  Pelar- 
goniums of  which  Mad.  Pollock  is  one 
of  the  earliest  as  it  is  one  of  the  best, 
describes  in  the  London  Garden  the 
Bouquet  Pea  as  having  red  and  white 
flowers  exceedingly  pretty,  each  spike 
forming  of  itself  a  bouquet  as  it  were, 
so  that  it  well  deserves  its  name.  It 
grows  two  and  a  half  or  three  feet  high, 
and  the  stems  at  the  bottom  are  not 
thicker  than  a  straw;  but  nearer  the  top, 
where  the  flowers  are  produced,  it  ac- 
quires nearly  the  thickness  of  a  man's 
finger.  The  spikes  of  bloom  when  cut 
keep  well  in  water. 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


373 


GRAPES. 


BY  EDGAR  FAWCETT. 


Amid  the  arbor's  amber-tarnished  vine, 
Taint  fluttering  to  the  south  wind's  languid  sigh, 
Under  this  drowsy  haze  of  mellow  sky, 

The  ripe  grapes  droop  their  clustered  globes  of  wine  ! 

And  even  amid  these  bland  luxurious  hours, 
They  seem  like  exiles  reft  <>f  cherished  rights, 
Here  in  our  treacherous  North,  whose  autumn  nights 

Drop  chilly  dews  upon  the  dying  flowers  ! 

Fair  clusters,  while  our  woods  in  ruin  flame, 
Do  yearnings  through  your  rich  blood  vaguely  thrill 
For  glimmering  vineyard,  olive-mantled  hill, 

And  Italy,  which  is  summer's  softer  name  ? 

Or  do  you  dream  of  some  old  ducal  board, 
BlaziDg  with  Venice  glass  and  costliest  plate, 
Where  princely  banqueters  caroused  in  state, 

And  through  the  frescoed  hall  the  long  feast  roared  ? 

Or  how  brocaded  dame  and  plumed  grandee 
Saw  your  impei'ial-colored  fruit  heaped  up 
On  radiant  salver  or  in  chiseled  cup, 

Where  some  proud  marble  gallery  faced  the  sea  ? 

Or  yet  do  your  strange  yearnings,  loth  to  cease, 
Go  wandering  on,  till  dearer  visions  rise 
Of  the  pale  temples  and  the  limpid  skies, 

The  storied  shores  and  haunted  groves  of  Greece  ? 

Greece,  where  the  god  was  yours,  of  such  renown — 
That  sleek-limbed  reviling  boy,  supremely  fair, 
Who,  with  the  ambrosial  gold  of  his  wild  hair, 

Would  wreathe  your  purple  opulence  for  a  crown  ! 

Atlantic  Monthly. 


WINE-MAKING  IN  CALIFORNIA  AND  IN 
FRANCE. 


A  correspondent  of  the  Sonoma  Dem- 
ocrat thus  compares  wine  making  in 
France  and  in  California: 

Experience  warrants  me  in  stating 
that  the  causes  which  have  prevented 
California  wine-growers  from  obtaining 
similar  results  are  manifold,  and  may 
be  classified  in  two  different  orders, 
viz:  1.  The  bad  choice  of  the  variety ; 
the  wrong  culture  of  the  vine.  2.  The 
faults  in  the  process  of  wine-making 
and  wine  preserving. 

It  would  be  too  long  here  to  treat 
thoroughly  the  question.  This  is  a 
work  that  we  are  now  elaborating  in  a 
careful  manner  which  will  eliminate  all 
doubt  or  objection;  I  shall  simply  point 


out  at  present  the  error  made  in  the  se- 
lection of  the  variety. 

The  rules  for  the  culture  of  the  vine 
and  the  making  of  wine  are  far  from 
being  immutable.  They  must  be  mod- 
ified according  to  the  nature  of  the  va- 
riety of  grape,  and  the  soil  upon  which 
it  is  grown.  To  merely  copy  what  is 
done  in  European  vineyards,  is  to  ex- 
pose one's  self  to  deception,  for  it  does 
not  follow,  because  a  certain  grape  is  a 
native  of  Bordeaux,  that  the  culture 
must  be  identical  with  that  it  received 
in  that  province.  Moreover,  the  wine 
that  it  will  produce  here  will  not  have 
the  same  qualities  it  had  at  home.  It 
will  acquire  other  qualities  and  defects, 
to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  according 
to  the  more  or  less  favorable  conditions 
in  which  it  will  be  placed. 

It  is  a  well  grounded  fact  that  a  tree 
or  shrub  transplanted  from  a  warmer 
into  a  colder  climate  will  lose  all  its 
former  qualities;  its  decay  will  be  rap- 
id, and  soon  its  fruit  will  bear  but  little 
resemblance  to  what  it  once  was.  On 
the  other  hand  a  variety  transplanted 
to  a  milder  climate  than  its  own  will 
not  preserve  its  natural  qualities,  but 
will  acquire  the  faculty  of  elaborating 
others,  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  those- 
it  lost. 

This  is  a  rule  of  vegetable  physiology 
which,  unfortunately,  seems  to  have 
been  overlooked  here,  and  which  ex- 
plains why  the  excellent  varieties  of 
Muscat  and  Malvoisie  can  never  be  com- 
pared, in  certain  regions  of  California, 
to  what  they  are  at  home,  and  in  most 
cases  prove  worthless,  while  others,  im- 
ported from  colder  climes,  prosper  and 
offer  products  such  as  people  were  far 
from  suspecting  them  of  yielding. 
Among  the  latter  are  the  varieties  of 
Zinfindel  and  Reisling.  In  Grermany 
the  former  is  held  in  good  repute,  but 
is  far  from  occupying  the  first  rank,  al- 


374 


THE    CALLFOKNIA    HOBTICULTUKIST. 


though  it  forms  the  base  of  several 
vineyards,  such  as  that  of  Gumpold 
Kirchen.  "We  do  not  hesitate  to  say- 
that  in  California  it  has  acquired  such 
exceptional  qualities  that  it  will  be  in  a 
short  time  the  basis  of  all  California 
vineyards.  Its  grapes,  attended  with 
proper  care,  give  a  wine  resembling 
neither  the  Burgundy  or  Bordeaux,  but 
are  flavored  with  qualities  sui  generis, 
which  placed  it  on  a  par  with  these 
famous  brands.  That  which  we  have 
made  in  Wm.  Hood's  splendid  vine- 
yard, at  Los  G-uilicos,  in  1874,  has  sur- 
prised many  connoisseurs.  It  recom- 
mends itself  by  its  strong  and  neat  color, 
its  perfect  clearness,  and  its  exquisite 
bouquet,  recalling  the  perfume  of  rose. 
We  have  submitted  it  to  several  experi- 
ments, and  can  certify  that  it  is  abund- 
antly supplied  with  the  elements  proper 
to  a  long  conservation,  and  will  bear 
without  the  least  detriment  to  be  ship- 
ped for  distant  voyages. 

"Why  has  not  such  a  grape  the  place 
of  honor  here  instead  of  the  Mission 
grape,  which  gives  good  products  but 
of  a  nature  that  will  compel  the  great- 
est pains  to  preserve?  It  yields  abund- 
antly, but  so  does  the  Zinfindel ;  but 
what  benefit  is  quantity  when  quality  is 
lacking?  The  Mission  vine  blooms  two 
weeks  later  than  the  Zinfindel,  and 
therefore  remains  exposed  to  the  influ- 
ence of  tardy  frosts,  and  then  again  it 
ripens  a  fortnight  later.  The  Zinfindel 
has  another  advantage — it  accommo- 
dates itself  very  well  to  the  cheap  mode 
of  culture  adopted  in  California.  This 
would  not  be  the  same  with  the  Clos 
Vougeot,  Chambertin,  Montrachet, 
Nuits,  Beaune,  etc.,  that  we  dare  not 
advocate  unless  they  receive  the  same 
extreme  care  lavished  upon  them  at 
home.  But  we  have  no  doubt  that  one 
who  would  incur  the  expense  of  such  a 
culture  would  be  rewarded  by  a  full 


success  that  would  become  an  immense 
source  of  profit  to  him  and  this  country. 

To  those,  then,  who  contemplate  es- 
tablishing a  vineyard,  we  shall  say, 
plant  the  Zinfindel.  To  the  proprietors 
of  vineyards  already  planted,  we  advise 
them  to  do  away,  little  by  little,  with 
their  bad  vines  and  replace  them  by  the 
Zinfindel.  It  is  important  of  course, 
to  reap  an  abundant  crop,  but  above  all 
it  must  be  a  good  one.  Thus  your 
wine  will  never  encumber  you.  Let  it 
have  the  flavor,  clearness,  conservative 
properties  required,  and  people  will 
come  from  far  and  near  to  buy. 

In  France,  where  so  great  a  produc- 
tion is  made  of  that  healthful  beverage, 
wine-growers  are  never  embarrassed 
with  their  products.  Such  should  be 
the  case  here,  and  the  best  means  to 
produce  "that  result  is  to  open  a  source 
to  good  products. 


THE    "BOSS"   TEEE  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

There  arrived  in  this  city,  this  morn- 
ing, from  California,  a  curiosity  for  the 
Centennial  at  Philadelphia  next  year. 
It  is  a  section  of  one  of  the  "boss"  trees 
of  the  Golden  State,  and  is  owned  by 
Mr.  M.  Vivian  and  his  son,  Mr.  T.  Vi- 
vian, from  whom  we  obtained  some  in- 
teresting particulars  concerning  it. 

The  common  name  of  this  wonderful 
tree  growth  is  the  "  Big  Tree,"  and  the 
botanical  name  is  Sequoia  gigantea. 
The  tree  from  which  this  section  was 
cut  grew  in  the  Kaweah  and  King's  Biv- 
er  grove,  near  the  line  of  Fresno  and 
Tulare  Counties,  California,  on  the 
west  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas,  at  an 
elevation  of  6,500  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea,  forty-five  miles  from  Visalia, 
the  nearest  railroad  station. 

The  age  of  the  tree,  as  indicated  by 
the  yearly  rings,  was  about  2,250  years, 
the  rings  being  so  close  on  the  outer 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


375 


edge  that  it  was  almost .  impossible  to 
count  them.  The  height  was  276  feet; 
the  diameter,  at  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  was  26  feet;  ten  feet  above  the 
ground  the  diameter  was  20  feet;  100 
feet  above  the  ground,  where  the  first 
limb  projects,  the  diameter  was  14  feet; 
and  200  feet  above  the  ground  the  di- 
ameter was  nine  feet. 

It  was  perfectly  sound  and  solid. 
The  bark  averaged  one  foot  in  thickness, 
and  in  some  places  it  was  sixteen  inch- 
es thick.  The  bark  of  some  of  this  spe- 
cies of  tree  is  three  feet  thick.  The  es- 
timated number  of  lumber  feet  that  it 
would  make  was  375,000,  and  the  num- 
ber of  cubic  feet  about  31,000,  sufficient 
to  make  lumber  and  posts  enough  for 
sixteen  miles  of  ordinary  fence.  The 
weight  of  the  wood  when  first  cut  was 
seventy-two  pounds  per  cubic  foot, 
making  this  weight  of  the  lumber  pro- 
ducing portion  2,232,000  pounds. 

It  took  two  men,  splendid  axemen, 
ten  days'  hard  work  to  fell  the  tree,  and 
when  it  fell  it  broke  in  several  pieces, 
with  a  terrible  crash.  This  section  was 
taken  from  the  tree  ten  feet  above  the 
ground  to  twenty -six  feet  above  the 
ground.  The  diameter  at  the  base  is 
twenty  feet.  It  was  hollowed  out  into 
a  cylinder,  and  then  cut  into  sections, 
making,  when  put  together,  the  body 
of  the  tree  complete,  the  wood  thus  left 
being  from  six  to  eight  inches  thick,  ex- 
clusive of  the  bark.  It  cost  $500  to  cut 
it  down  and  haul  it  to  Visalia,  and  $700 
from  there  to  Omaha,  two  flat  cars  being 
used  for  its  transportation. — Omaha  Bee. 


PEACH  CULTUEE. 

Good  and  liberal  cultivation'  of  the 
soil  will  pay  as  well  with  Peaches  as 
any  other  crop,  and  the  intelligent 
planter  well  knows  that  if  he  expects  a 
good  crop  of  fruit  from  his  trees,  he 


must  treat  them  well  and  feed  them  too, 
as  he  would  feed  his  cattle  and  hogs,  to 
get  a  return  from  them.  As  soon  as  a 
crop  has  been  gathered  it  is  well  to  turn 
the  hogs  in  to  eat  up  the  refuse  fruit. 
This  will  help  to  make  pork,  as  well  as 
destroy  multitudes  of  insects  that  remain 
in  embryo  in  the  fallen  fruit.  They  will 
root  about  the  trees  and  destroy  a  mul- 
titude of  grubs  that  would  be  injurious 
to  the  trees.  The  next  step  is  to  care- 
fully remove  all  broken  and  dead  limbs. 
Many  of  the  limbs  nearest  the  ground 
will  be  found  feeble  and  bent,  and  may 
be  removed  with  advantage  to  the  tree. 
This  will  cause  new  branches  to  put 
out  and  stimulate  to  extra  growth  those 
remaining.  If  some  of  the  trees  are  of 
natural  growth,,  and  it  be  wished  to 
transform  them  into  new  and  choice 
varieties  of  budded  fruit,  it  is  well,  as 
soon  as  the  leaves  fall,  to  cut  off  the  en- 
tire top,  just  above  where  the  branches 
form.  Allow  four  or  five  of  the  most 
vigorous  shoots  to  grow  the  next  spring, 
and  toward  fall  bud  into  the  young 
wood.  In  the  fall  following  cut  off  the 
shoot  above  the  bud,  and  in  two  years 
the  top  will  be  larger  and  handsomer 
than  when  removed. 

After  cutting  out  the  dead  limbs  give 
the  orchard  a  liberal  dressing  of  barn- 
yard manure,  and  a  few  shovelfuls  of 
lime  or  ashes,  about  the  roots  of  the 
trees.  Whatever  top-dressing  the  or- 
chard gets  it  should  be  put  on  in  the 
fall,  as  the  fertilizers  will  be  dissolved 
by  the  winter's  rain,  soak  in  and  about 
the  roots,  and  stimulate  the  next  year's 
growth,  and  add  very  much  to  the  next 
year's  crop.  As  soon  as  the  dressing  is 
put  on,  the  orchard  should  be  thorough- 
ly and  carefully  cultivated.  Mulching 
the  trees  in  the  spring,  just  before  the 
last  rains,  should  not  be  omitted,  as  it 
adds  very  much  to  the  vigor  and  growth 
of  the  trees,  equalizing  the  temperature 


376 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


of  the  soil  about  the  roots,  and  retain- 
ing the  moisture  by  checking  evapora- 
tion. The  best  mulching,  if  at  hand,  is 
the  scraping  of  the  barn-yard,  as  it  an- 
swers two  purposes  —  protecting  the 
roots  and  enriching  the  soil  when  plow- 
ed under.  Coarse  straw  and  grass  or 
weeds  answer,  if  nothing  better  is  to  be 
had.  Mulching  is  not  equally  benefi- 
cial on  all  soils;  in  fact,  some  of  our 
farmers  attach  little  or  no  importance 
to  it.  These  different  opinions  are 
brought  about  by  the  different  kinds  of 
soils  cultivated.  "We  will  admit  that 
clay  soils  need  mulching  much  less  than 
light  sandy  soils,  though  much  benefit 
is  derived  from  mulching  trees  planted 
in  clay  soils,  which  are  more  retentive 
of  moisture.  Trees  should  be  mulched 
from  three  to  four  feet  around  from  the 
tree. 

The  varieties  of  the  Peach  are  very 
numerous,  and  within  a  very  few  years 
our  nurserymen  have  increased  them  by 
hundreds.  Were  three-fifths  of  them 
rejected,  it  would  be  much  to  the  bene- 
fit and  profit  of  the  orchardists,  as  only 
a  few,  comparatively,  are  valuable  and 
worthy  of  extended  cultivation.  We 
wish  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  in- 
experienced planters  that  it  is  best  to 
plant  but  few  varieties,  and  those  that 
are  known  to  succeed  best  in  that  par- 
ticular locality.  Consult  with  those 
growing  fruit  in  the  neighborhood  as  to 
the  sorts  that  do  best  in  that  locality 
and  command  the  highest  price  in  the 
market.  If  there  is  a  demand  for  can- 
ning, ascertain  what  varieties  bring  the 
highest  prices  at  the  canning  establish- 
ment, and  if  the  demand  will  justify 
growing  any  particular  sort  for  that 
purpose.  Many  of  our  standard  sorts 
have  been  of  late  years  discarded,  as 
new  and  better  sorts  have  been  produ- 
ced which  ripen  about  the  same  time, 
having   peculiarities  which  make  them 


more  desirable.  Among  the  new  vari- 
eties of  early  sorts  Ave  would  mention 
the  following:  Early  May,  Alexander, 
Beatrice,  Louise,  Rivers,  and  Hale's 
Early.  The  latter  sort  has  been  well 
tested  in  different  localities  throughout 
this  State,  and  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say 
that,  all  things  considered,  it  has  prov- 
ed to  be  the  best  early  Peach  grown  in 
the  State.  For  medium  varieties,  we 
have  the  Crawford  Early,  Old  Mixon 
free,  Foster,  Richmond,  Jones'  Seedling, 
Moore's  Favorite;  and  for  late  sorts  we 
mention  "Ward's  Late  Free,  Salway, 
Freemason,  October  Free,  and  Day's 
Cling.  There  are  other  varieties  we 
might  mention  equally  as  good  as  the 
above,  and  in  some  localities  might 
prove  better. — Sacramento  Record. 


MAKING  TOWNS   ATTRACTIVE. 

Mr.  Henry  C.  Bo  wen  delivered  a 
brief,  practical,  and  suggestive  address 
at  the  Woodstock  Fair,  in  Connecticut, 
the  other  day,  closing  as  follows : 

"  The  time  is  coming,  and  is  not  far 
distant,  when  the  people  in  all  these 
New  England  towns  and  villages  will 
organize  and  go  joyously  and  systemat- 
ically to  work  in  making  public  improve- 
ments. Those  places  which  move  the 
soonest  will  reap  the  earliest  and  great- 
est renown,  for  they  will  gain  in  popu- 
lation the  refined,  the  most  enterprising 
and  wealthy,  and  make  permanently  se- 
cure their  prosperity.  Real  estate  will 
increase  in  value,  taxes  will  decrease 
because  of  the  increased  value  of  popu- 
lation, and  everybody  will  be  made 
happier  and  better  by  the  change.  It 
is  time  to  think  of  the  improvement  of 
your  public  streets  and  highways.  It 
is  time  to  think  of  sidewalks  and  shade- 
trees  along  all  your  highways,  of  public 
parks  and  fountains,  of  bathing-houses 
and  boat-houses,  of  flowers  and  shrub- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


b77 


bery — of  grading  and  leveling,  of  doing 
everything  in  your  power  to  make  all 
these  beautiful  hills  and  valleys  bud  and 
blossom  as  the  Rose,  and  be  more  and 
more  your  pride  and  joy.  In  this  good 
work  you  must  be  united,  harmonious, 
and  persevering,  and  the  blessed  yearly 
investment  of  time  and  money  you  will 
make  will  pay  you  a  dividend  every  day 
the  year  round  and  all  your  life  long, 
and  thousands  shall  share  in  your  in- 
vestment when  you  are  dead  and  for- 
gotten. Let  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  do  something  in  this  matter,  and 
do  it  promptly.  You  can  at  least  plant 
an  Elm  or  a  Rose-bush  every  year,  and 
you  will  not  have  lived  entirely  in  vain. 
A  single  word  more  under  this  head.  I 
hope  the  time  will  speedily  come  when 
it  shall  be  called  a  punishable  offense 
for  any  man  to  make  the  public  high- 
way a  depository  for  all  his  old  broken 
carts,  and  stone  heaps,  and  old  rubbish 
from  his  garret  and  barn,  from  cellar 
and  door-yard.  Such  action  is  harmful, 
demoralizing,  and  a  public  nuisance, 
and  it  should  be  rigidly  prevented  and 
forbidden.  You  have  the  power  thus 
to  do,  and  I  hope  you  will  have  the  dis- 
position to  enforce  it.  It  is  for  the  pub- 
lic good  that  this  should  be  done,  and 
that  is  reason  enough.  And  hereafter, 
if  a  man  wants  a  nuisance,  let  him  have 
it  at  his  own  door-yard,  where  he  can 
see  it,  ponder  over  it,  and  smell  it  every- 
day, all  by  himself.  Those  towns  and 
villages  will  most  prosper  which  fastest 
multiply  their  local  attractions.  You 
will  all,  of  course,  vote  for  schools, 
churches,  and  work-shops,  and  this  is 
right,  but  you  must  march  beyond  these 
points  as  fast  as  you  can  with  a  proper 
regard  to  other  duties.  Look  out  for 
public  institutions  and  endow  them. 
Look  out  for  your  streets  and  highways 
and  improve  them.  Make  your  town 
and  home  more   and  more    beautiful 

Vol.  V.— 34. 


every  year.  Your  hearts  will  be  made 
better,  and  your  souls  will  be  richer  for 
so  doing.  Pardon  this  friendly  criti- 
cism, and  accept  my  best  wishes  for 
your  continual  prosperity;." 


WEEDS    AS  WATER  PURIFIERS. 


Mr.  J.  J.  Mechi  writes  as  follows  to 
the  London  Agricultural  Gazette:  Into 
my  pond  runs  a  stream  of  twenty-five 
gallons  per  minute  of  pure  water  from 
a  drain  which  I  cut  twelve  feet  deep 
some  thirty  odd  years  ago.  Weeds  will 
thrive  and  grow  in  this  pond,  and  we 
have  annually  to  take  out  large  quanti- 
ties of  them.  They  look  very  beautiful 
as  they  grow  m  the  pellucid  water, 
which  is  used  for  household  purposes. 
Said  a  visitor  to  me  one  day:  "  If  you 
had  a  pair  of  swans,  your  pond  would 
be  free  from  weeds;"  so  a  kind  friend 
presented  me  with  a  pair,  and  very  soon 
they  cleared  the  pond,  pulling  the 
weeds  up  by  the  roots  and  feeding  on 
them.  My  family  were  delighted  with 
the  graceful  swans  and  the  removal  of 
the  weedy  obstructions  to  boating;  but 
although  the  pond  was  free  of  weeds, 
the  water  was  no  longer  pure  and  pel- 
lucid, but  most  decidedly  muddy  in 
taste,  and  when  the  steam  issued  from 
the  kettle,  the  smell  of  mud  was  unmis- 
takable. Well,  no  one  thought  it  could 
be  the  swans,  but  at  last  I  came  to  the 
conclusion,  and,  despite  family  and 
other  remonstrances,  returned  them  to 
their  original  owner.  After  a  short  pe- 
riod the  weeds  re-appeared,  and  as  they 
increased  in  bulk,  the  water  gradually 
assumed  its  pellucidity  and  purity,  and 
"  Richard  was  himself  again."  What 
the  weeds  do  for  the  water  and  its  oc- 
cupants the  land  vegetation  does  for  the 
air;  men,  animals,  and  other  living  crea- 
tures poison  it,  while  vegetation  absorbs 
the    injurious    gases,    and    reconverts 


378 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


them  into  wholesome  food  and  fuel  for 
man  and  beast,  filling  the  atmosphere 
with  that  precious'  oxygen  without 
which  men  and  animals  and  other  living 
creatures  could  no  longer  exist.  So  it 
is  in  the  vast  ocean,  whose  living  occu- 
pants and  vegetation  probably  exceed 
in  quantity  that  which  is  on  land.  We 
owe  to  the  river  vegetation  much  of  the 
purity  of  water.  It  is  the  excess  of  im- 
purities from  our  towns  which  are  be- 
yond its  powers  of  appropriation. 


OEANGE  CULTUKE. 


Dr.  Strentzel  delivered  a  lecture  at 
the  State  University  recently  on  "Or- 
ange Culture,"  which  tontained  much 
valuable  information  concerning  the  cul- 
tivation of  that  succulent  fruit. 

He  advised  selecting  the  plumpest 
seeds  and  the  planting  them  fresh  in 
boxes  with  perforated  bottoms,  filled 
up  with  rich  mellow  soil  that  will  not 
bake,  dropping  the  seeds  five  inches 
apart,  covering  one  inch.  Keep  the 
box  in  a  warm  room  and  the  soil  damp. 
When  the  young  plants  appear,  give 
them  plenty  of  sunshine  and  air,  and 
sprinkle  them  every  evening  with  slight- 
ly tepid  water.  If  there  is  no  frost  ap- 
prehended and  the  nights  are  warm, 
keep  your  boxes  out  of  doors,  sheltered 
from  the  wind  and  the  burning  sun.  A 
screen  made  of  unbleached  muslin  will 
answer  for  both.  Fork  over  the  sur- 
face between  the  plants  occasionally, 
and  enrich  toward  midsummer  with  well- 
decomposed  manure.  The  seedlings 
should  attain  the  height  of  12  or  18 
inches  during  the  season,  but  be  not  too 
ambitious  to  stimulate  the  exuberant 
growth;  rather  shorten  in  the  rampant 
shoots,  and  secure  a  stocky,  symmetri- 
cal growth.  During  the  winter  keep 
them  in  a  dry  airy  place,  with  a  tem- 
perature never   under  30  deg. ,  and  not 


much  over  60  deg. ;  and  in  the  spring 
transplant  them  to  larger  and  deeper 
boxes.  This  is  the  time  to  graft  them 
over,  if  you  know  of  a  tree  bearing  su- 
perior fruit,  even  if  it  is  a  seedling,  or 
a  particular  foreign  variety  from  which 
you  could  obtain  cions.  Do  so  at  once, 
as  the  early  grafted  trees  make  a  health- 
ier and  more  rapid  growth  than  those 
grafted  when  the  tree  is  older.  Except 
in  very  favorable  locations,  the  young 
trees  should  remain  in  boxes  the  second 
year,  affording  a  greater  facility  for 
sheltering  during  the  winter,  and  be 
transplanted  to  the  open  ground  the 
third  year.  The  distance  between  trees 
planted  in  a  grove  will  be  controlled  by 
the  space  at  command.  If  twenty'  or 
more  feet  are  required  in  large  planta- 
tions aiid  a  southern  clime,  a  small 
grove  will  do  well  if  planted  twelve  to 
fifteen  feet  apart,  as  it  will  require  ten 
to  twelve  years  to  fill  that  sj>ace.  The 
Orange  is  a  rapid  grower  under  favora- 
ble conditions,  but  may  remain  station- 
ary if  treated  inconsiderately.  Holes 
for  the  reception  of  the  trees  should  be 
at  least  four  feet  in  diameter,  and  as 
many  deep,  and  more  if  the  ground  has 
a  hard  clay  substratum,  not  draining 
well,  as  stagnant  water  around  the  roots 
is  very  injurious.  The  bottom  of  the 
hole,  if  covered  several  inches  deep  with 
broken  bones,  charcoal,  etc. ,  would  fa- 
cilitate drainage.  Then  fill  up  with  the 
richest  top-soil,  and  compact  it  in  the 
hole  by  pressing  down  with  the  back  of 
a  hoe,  and  not  by  solid  treading.  Young 
Orange-trees  can  be  transplanted  al- 
most any  time  if  known  precautions  are 
observed  to  move  them  with  the  adher- 
ing ball  of  earth  covering  all  the  roots. 
Plant  them  about  six  inches  higher  than 
the  surface  land  to  allow  for  gradual 
settling  of  the  loosened  soil.  Deep 
planting  should  be  guarded  against,  as 
it  sickens  the  trees  and  retards  their 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


379 


growth.  The  ground  should  be  mixed 
with  partly  decomposed  long  manure 
and  kept  moist,  and  the  trees  in  a  grow- 
ing condition.  Check  exuberant  growth 
by  nipping  the  ends  of  the  shoots,  build- 
ing up  a  symmetrical,  slightly  pyramid- 
al form.  Nothing  secures  early  bearing 
more  than  judicious  pruning  of  the 
leading  shoots,  thus  checking  the  sap 
from  production  of  superfluous  wood. 


THE  CULTURE   OF   EAMIE. 


Ramie  (Rohemaria  tenacissima),  the 
nettle  of  the  east,  has  for  centuries 
been  used  in  China,  India  and  Japan, 
as  the  basis  of  many  fabrics.  The  dis- 
covery of  this  "brilliant  product,"  says 
Lefranc,  which  is  called  "Kara"  in 
Japan,  "Ma,"  or  "Chu-ma"  in  China; 
"Rhea,"  in  India  and  "Ramah"  or 
"Ramie"  in  Java,  is  credited  to  Jesuit 
missionaries. 

Of  all  long  textiles,  Ramie,  for 
strength  and  brilliancy,  ranks  next  to 
silk.  Its  manufactures  are  known  as 
Japanese  silks,  Canton  goods,  grass 
cloth  and  nankeen  linen.  It  is  also 
mixed  with  various  other  materials  in 
the  manufacture  of  goods,  of  all  which 
the  United  States  annually  imports 
$5,000,000. 

Leeds  and  Bradford  are  the  principal 
towns  in  England  where  Ramie  is  man- 
ufactured, being  extensively  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  silk.  There,  in  its  raw 
state,  Ramie  is  worth  £55  to  £75  per  ton 
($325  to  $375  gold.)  Here  it  is  worth 
about  twenty  cents  per  pound.  The 
annual  consumption  of  Ramie  in  France 
in  manufactures  must  amount  to  15,000,- 
000  or  20,000,000  pounds. 

A  few  years  ago,  it  having  been  sat- 
isfactorily ascertained  that  Louisiana 
had  a  soil  and  climate  well  adapted  to 
the  cultivation  of  Ramie,  Emile  Lefranc, 
of  New  Orleans,  with  true  patriotism, 


undertook  (in  connection  with  the  Hon. 
Fred.  Watts,  United  States  Agricult- 
ural Commissioner)  its  extensive  intro- 
duction into  that  State;  surmounting 
every  obstacle,  complete  success  has  re- 
warded these  efforts,  and  the  culture  of 
Ramie  in  Louisiana  may  now  be  regard- 
ed as  "a  fact  accomplished." 

For  Ramie  culture,  says  ^Lefranc,  the 
soil  must  be  deep,  rich  and  moist,  like 
the  sandy  alluvion  of  Louisiana ;  manure 
supplies  the  defects  in  some  lands  in 
these  respects.  The  best  time  for 
planting  is  in  December,  January,  and 
February. 

A  peculiarity  in  the  Ramie  fibre  causes 
the  Chinese  to  prepare  it  for  manufac- 
ture in  the  green  state,  by  a  hand-pro- 
cess of  scraping,  one  hand  doing  only 
one  to  one  and  a  half  pounds  per  day, 
and  the  absence  of  machinery  in  the 
United  States  to  fix  Ramie  and  overcome 
the  comparatively  valueless  labor  of 
China  and  India,  seemed  a  serious  ob- 
stacle to  its  being  added  to  the  list  of 
American  products. 

A  labor-saving  machine  was  required 
that  would  give  2,000  to  3,000  pounds 
of  marketable  raw  product  per  day, 
and  seven  years'  arduous  labor  and  per- 
severance have  enabled  M.  Lefranc  to 
produce  his  patent  Decorticutor,  which 
is  now  in  successful  operation  in  New 
Orleans.  The  Decorticutor,  although 
specially  constructed  for  Ramie  and  Jute, 
is  equally  applicable  (says  Lefranc)  for 
Flax  and  Hemp. 

We  believe  this  machine  will  prove 
invaluable  in  the  development  of  Flax, 
Hemp,  Jute,  and  Ramie,  and  that  it  will 
raise  the  name  of  Lefranc  high  on  the 
scroll  of  America's  benefactors. 


Lycopodium  denticulata  is  used  in  im- 
mense quantities  around  London  for 
decorative  purposes,  one  florist  there 
purchasing  annually  $3,500  worth. 


380 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


THE  PAPAW  TEEE  OE  SHEUB. 

The  Papaw,  which  is  very  common 
in  the  Western  and  Southern  States,  is 
not,  so  far  as  our  observation  extends, 
to  be  found  in  California.  The  fruit  is 
very  nutritious  and  palatable,  much  re- 
sembling the  Banana,  and  we  consider 
its  introduction  here  would  give  us  a 
desirable  addition  to  the  number  of  our 
fruits.  The  Papaw  is  pulpy  and  soft, 
and  probably  could  not  bear  long 
transportation  or  command  an  exten- 
sive sale  in  the  market,  but  it  would  be 
a  very  acceptable  fruit  for  home  con- 
sumption. There  are  several  varieties, 
some  of  which  grow  to  the  height  of 
ten  or  fifteen  feet,  while  others  are  low 
shrubs.  The  fruit  of  all  of  them  is 
sweet  and  very  fragrant,  and  the  prod- 
uct very  abundant.  The  Papaw  gener- 
ally grows  wild,  along  the  banks  of 
streams,  and  sometimes  forms  thickets 
of  several  acres.  It  is  much  improved 
by  cultivation,  and  we  think  the  exper- 
iment well  worth  trying  in  California. 
It  is  possible  that  it  may  have  been  in- 
troduced here,  but  we  have  never  met 
with  it,  either  wild  or  cultivated.  We 
think  it  merits  a  place  in  our  orchards 
and  gardens.  The  Papaw  will  grow  in 
almost  any  soil,  and  grows  symmetri- 
cally, without  pruning,  requiring  no 
special  cultivation  or  attention.  The 
fruit  is  very  abundant,  and  the  tree  is 
attractive  in  appearance  and  free  from 
insects.  We  imagine  that  California 
would  be  well  suited  to  the  Papaw. 
Every  circumstance  of  soil  and  climate 
would  seem  to  be  favorable,  and  it 
would  be  a  very  good  substitute  in  the 
northern  counties  for  the  Banana. — 
Call. 

[Note. — We  learn  that  James  Lick, 
Esq.,  has  Papaw  trees  growing  well  and 
bearing  good  fruit,  on  his  estate  at  San 
Jose. — Ed.] 


LOBELIA   SYPHILITICA. 


One  of  the  prettiest  wild  flowers  that 
we  have  ever  gathered  or  seen,  not  in 
general  cultivation,  is  the  blue  Cardinal 
Flower — and  we  can  assure  our  read- 
ers that  its  singular  beauty  will  well  re- 
pay the  trouble  of  a  trip  on  the  low- 
lands or  shady  fields  where  it  is  most 
likely  to  be  found. 

We  may  call  the  plant  two  feet  high, 
though  it  varies  greatly  in  different  sit- 
uations. The  flowers  have  the  effect  of 
a  raceme,  though  they  are  really  solita- 
ry in  the  axils  of  each  leaf  which  sub- 
tends them  like  a  bract.  The  general 
shape  of  the  flower  is  that  of  a  tube  an 
inch  long  parted  at  the  top  into  two 
lips,  at  right  angles  to  the  tube,  of  two 
and  three  lobes,  each  margin  coarsely 
toothed.  The  lobes  are  a  vivid  blue, 
while  the  tube  as  the  sun  shines  ujDon 
it  is  alternately  a  changeable  bluish- 
purple  and  white  in  parallel  lines. 
There  are  about  twenty  -  five  flowers  in 
the  terminal  leafy  raceme  as  it  may  be 
called. 

Mr.  Darwin  holds  that  all  bright 
flowers  are  fertilized  by  insects;  while 
small,  dull  flowers  are  fertilized  by  the 
wind.  Hence,  the  terms  anemophilous 
(wind  lovers)  and  entomophilous  (insect 
lovers).  But  this  plant  owes  thanks  to 
neither  wind  nor  insects  for  the  forma- 
tion of  seeds.  Botanically  speaking, 
the  stamens  are  nonadelphous  as  well  as 
syngenesious — i.  e.,  the  filaments  as  well 
as  the  anthers  are  united  about  the  pis- 
til. Just  before  the  flower  opens,  the 
stigma  is  inclosed  by  the  anthers,  which 
then  shed  their  pollen.  Subsequently, 
the  anthers  remaining  coherent,  the  ins- 
til makes  a  growth  which  forces  the 
stigma  through  the  staminate  tube  and 
beyond  the  anthers  nearly  the  sixteenth 
of  an  inch.  Fertilization,  therefore, 
must  have  taken  place  before  the  gen- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


381 


erative  organs  were  exposed  to  wind  or 
insects. 

If  "Nature  looks  with  horror  upon 
in-and-in  breeding,"  as  Muller  and  oth- 
ers teach,  Nature  in  the  instance  of  Lo- 
belia syphilitica  ought  to  explain  her- 
self.— Rural  New  Yorker. 


PLANTING  A  WILD   GARDEN. 

"With  the  improvement  of  a  cultivated 
taste,  the  appreciation  increases  for  a 
wild  or  natural  garden.  It  was  the  cus- 
tom formerly  to  make  gardens  appear 
as  artificial  and  stiff  as  possible.  For- 
mal curves  and  straight  lines  exclusive- 
ly prevailed.  One  side  of  the  grounds 
was  an  exact  reflection  of  the  other. 
Now  this  stiffness  is  becoming  discard- 
ed, and  the  grace  of  free  and  irregular 
beauty  is  taking  its  place;  and  the  im- 
measurable superiority  of  undistorted 
forms  shown  in  all  the  wildness  and  in- 
tricacy of  natural  scenery. 

We  have  seen  a  beautiful  unplanted 
grove  growing  among  the  rocks  of  a 
wild  gorge,  rendered  exceedingly  at- 
tractive by  planting  Rhododendrons 
with  the  native  shrubbery.  Additional 
charms  might  be  added  by  investing 
the  rocks  and  bushes  with  the  trailing 
forms  of  the  hardy  Clematis,  of  the  Pe- 
riploca,  the  chmbing  Honeysuckles, 
etc.,  while  the  wood  Lilies,  Gentians, 
and  other  plants  which  bloom  freely  in 
the  shade,  would  give*  additional  attrac- 
tions. Early  in  the  season  masses  of 
the  Hepatica,  Sanguinaria,  Erythroni- 
um,  and  other  spring  -  blooming  wild 
plants,  would  make  such  a  wild  garden 
exceedingly  attractive.  Cultivated  ex- 
otics, such  as  our  common  bulbs,  Snow- 
drops, Joncprils,  Hyacinths,  etc.,  might 
be  introduced  in  open  spaces  along  the 
borders  of  the  more  dense  portions  of 
the  wild  shrubbery.  If  these  were  pro- 
perly  introduced,   they   would  lose  all 


the  artificial  appearances  too  often  giv- 
en them,  and  become  an  essential  com- 
ponent part  of  the  wild  scenery —  and 
then  ornamental  effect  be  thus  great- 
ly increased. 

For  such  a  garden  to  give  the  best 
effect  it  is  almost  essential  that  the  sur- 
face be  more  or  less  uneven,  and  a 
small  ravine,  with  some  rocks,  would  be 
a  valuable  addition.  A  stream  of  wa- 
ter lined  with  Ferns  and  water-plants 
would  add  still  further  to  its  charms. 
A  narrow  curved  gravel -walk,  kept- 
smooth  and  in  perfect  finish,  would  not 
be  discordant  with  the  general  effect; 
it  would  be  the  only  artificial  part  of 
the  grounds  that  could  be  admitted. 

Those  who  may  have  small  "waste" 
portions  of  land  on  then  farms  or  sub- 
urban grounds,  where  wild  bushes  and 
trees  have  grown  up,  may  at  a  mode- 
rate exjoense,  and  a  good  deal  of  indus- 
try, make  a  beautiful  garden,  at  much 
less  cost  than  the  formal  plantations 
which  they  do  not  hesitate  to  under- 
take. Now  is  the  time  to  take  it  in 
hand;  to  set  out  the  bulbs,  and  to  se- 
cure the  wrild  flowers  from  the  woods. 
This  shoidd  not  be  sparsely  done — they 
should  be  planted  in  irregular  and  pro- 
fuse masses,  and  the  appropriate  posi- 
tions of  each  be  assigned  them. — Gar- 
dener's Chronicle. 


SEEDLING  FRUITS. 


"We  see  a  great  deal  said  of  late  about 
the  scientific  propagation  of  new  seed- 
ling fruits,  which  in  my  judgment,  is  a 
delusion — is  theory  without  facts  to  sus- 
tain the  claims,  and  a  serious  hindrance 
to  many  who  would  plant  seed,  but  have 
not  time  nor  patience  to  adopt  what  is 
termed  hybridizing;  and  not  deeming  it 
safe  to  try  and  compete  with  science, 
they  therefore  let  the  matter  rest.  New 
seedlings,  therefore,  are  rare  treasures, 


382 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


seldom  attracting  attention,  and  there 
are  but  few  of  these  that  the  scientist 
can  boast  of  having  originated.  One 
reading  their  learned  essays  would  sup- 
pose their  process  of  crossing  was  so 
well  attested  that  to  get  a  certain  de- 
sired fruit  is  as  sure  as  mule-breeding. 
In  mule-breeding  it  is  a  mule  every 
time,  but  the  scientific  fruit  propagator 
has  all  grades  in  plants  and  fruits,  and 
often  no  grade  at  all,  the  parent  tree  or 
vine  repeating  itself  in  all  particulars; 
just  the  same  as  is  done  where  nature 
is  left  free  for  contiguous  plants  to  mix 
in  their  pollen  by  the  agency  of  the 
wind,  bees,  and  flies.  Variations  are 
what  we  seek  in  new  seedlings,  and 
seeds  from  contiguous  plants  give  those 
gradations,  and  as  yet,  so  far  as  I  can 
learn,  the  results  of  scientists  show 
their  theory  a  whim,  the  crossing  being 
mainly  done  before  or  after  their  ap- 
plication, and  in  no  case  do  they  pro- 
duce more  than  a  contiguous  growing 
plant  would  have  done.  That  by  their 
process  they  may  carry  pollen  and  add 
to  the  mongrel,  I  admit,  but  there  is 
no  calculating  what  those  mongrels  will 
be  other  than  that  no  two  will  be  alike. 
Therefore  the  results  of  scientists  and  of 
untrammeled  nature  all  go  to  teach  us 
that  the  true  theory  to  improve  fruits  is 
to  plant  the  best  in  close  proximity, 
away  from  all  others,  and  from  such  to 
save  seed;  and  so  on  as  you  would  do 
with  live-stock,  mating  the  best  every 
time,  and  repeating  as  fast  as  you  can. 
Such  has  been  my  process,  and  the 
results  tell  favorably  in  many  improved 
samples  of  trees  and  fruits.  From  the 
seed  of  the  Apple  I  have  grown  the  Crab 
in  tree  and  fruit,  and  from  Crab-seed 
have  grown  the  Apple  in  tree  and  fruit. 
I  grow  the  Apple  and  Crab  from  the 
same  parent  tree  and  the  same  saving 
of  seed,  all  done  by  growing  the  Apple 
and  Crab,  from  which  the  seeds  were 


taken,  in  close  proximity.  For  the  last 
eight  years  my  seedb'ngs  have  been 
from  the  Duchess,  Wealthy,  and  various. 
Crabs;  other  varieties,  less  hardy,  hav- 
ing grown  in  the  vicinity,  all  showing 
their  several  characteristics  in  the  seed- 
lings, some  hardy,  some  tender,  all  con- 
ceivable gradations  in  trees  and  fruit; 
some  so  hardy  that  they  came  through 
the  last  winter  with  such  luxuriance  as 
if  they  had  not  felt  frost,  and  are  now 
loaded  with  fruit,  which  is  not  a  general 
thing  with  any  of  the  older  varieties  of 
Apple  or  Crab,  thus  showing  the  prone- 
ness  of  fruits  to  adapt  themselves  to 
mate  by  reproducing  from  home-grown 
seed.  Thus  a  continuous  reproduction 
from  the  best  in  tree  and  fruit  will  in 
time  give  us  a  succession  of  fruit  the 
year  round.  But  to  attain  the  prize  we 
must  go  at  it  in  earnest  as  a  people,  as  a 
nation.  We  should  plant  fruit-seed- 
lings on  every  roadside  for  wind-breaks 
and  shades,  thus  making  roadsides  teem 
with  luxuries,  beauty,  and  comforts,  free 
to  all  that  come  and  go.  And  a  true 
civilization  demands  that  we  make  a 
start  for  the  attainment  of  the  best  pos- 
sible variety  of  luxuries  and  in  the  great- 
est possible  profusion .  —  The  Country 
Gentleman. 


THE  SKIMMIAS. 


Shimmia  japonica  was  for  a  long  time 
the  only  variety  known  to  Europe  and 
America.  Now,  however,  we  have  five 
recognized  species,  namely,  Skimmia  ja- 
pojiica;  Vabldta,  eitchii,  laureola,  and/ra- 
grans.  8.  japonica  is  valuable  on  ac- 
count of  its  brilliant  red  fruit,  about 
the  size  of  a  pea,  which,  growing  in  pro- 
fusion, remains  on  the  bush  all  the  year 
round,  thus  giving  it  a  very  ornamental 
appearance,  especially  in  winter,  and 
perhaps  not  less  so  in  the  following 
spring,  when,  through  this  strange  te- 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


383 


nacity  of  adhesion,  it  is  not  unusual  for 
the  plant  to  be  seen  laden  with  both 
fruit  and  floorers  at  the  same  time. 

SIdmmiafragrans,  which  bears  a  sweet 
smelling  white  flower  tinged  with  yel- 
low, possesses  this  peculiarity — that 
though  its  buds  appear  before  winter 
sets  in,  the  flowers  do  not  open  till  the 
following  April.  "With  the  exception 
of  laureola,  which  is  indigenous  to  Ne- 
paul,  India,  all  the  varieties  of  Skimmia 
come  from  Japan ;  they  are  well  worthy 
of  extended  cultivation,  being  very  har- 
dy and  adapting  themselves  readily, 
when  young,  to  almost  any  soil  or  cli- 
mate. They  may  be  easily  increased  by 
means  of  cuttings  struck  under  glass, 
or  in  some  cases  from  seed.  Siebold 
and  Zuccarini  state,  says  La  Revue  Hor- 
tieole,  that  the  Japanese  and  Chinese 
class  S.  japonica  among  poisonous 
fruits. 


TAMARIND. 


This  beautiful  tree  is  a  native  of  the 
East  Indies,  but  is  now  considerably  cul- 
tivated in  warm  climates  elsewhere. 
Only  one  species  seems  to  be  known — 
a  spreading  tree,  thirty  or  forty  feet 
high,  with  alternate  pinnate  leaves, 
which  have  from  twelve  to  fifteen  pairs 
of  small  leaflets,  and  fragrant  flowers 
with  three  petals,  the  pods  brown .  and 
many-seeded,  as  thick  as  a  man's  finger 
and  about  six  inches  long.  The  pods 
are  filled  with  a  pleasant,  acidulous, 
sweet,  reddish-black  pulp.  They  are 
usually  preserved  by  putting  hot  syrup 
on  the  ripe  pulp,  but  a  better  method 
is  to  put  alternate  layers  of  tamarinds 
and  sugar  in  a  stone  jar,  the  color  and 
taste  being  thus  more  like  those  of  a 
fresh  pulp. 

The  wood  of  the  Tamarind-tree,  and 
especially  of  its  roots,  is  a  cabinet  wood 
of  much  beauty  but  of  extreme  hard- 


ness, so  that  it  is  wrought  with  much 
difficulty. 

On  chemical  analysis,  the  pulp  is 
found  to  contain  citric,  tartaric,  and  ma- 
lic acids,  potash,  sugar,  vegetable  jelly, 
etc. 

As  salt  of  copper  is  a  common  adul- 
teration, a  piece  of  polished  iron — a 
knife  for  example  —  should  be  plunged 
into  the  pulp  and  left  in  it  for  an  hour, 
when,  if  copper  be  present,  it  will  be 
deposited  on  the  iron. 

The  pulp  is  cooling  and  gently  laxa- 
tive, and  is  often  employed  in  febrile 
complaints.  It  is  used  in  India  as  a 
soothing  article  of  diet,  and  a  kind  of 
sherbet  is  made  from  it.  It  is  also  an 
excellent  addition  to  curries. 

Tamarind  tea  is  made  by  infusing 
the  fruit  in  boiling  water;  when  cold  it 
forms  an  agreeable  and  cooling  drink 
in  inflammatory  and  febrile  disorders. 

Whey  is  prepared  by  boiling  an  ounce 
of  Tamarinds  with  a  pint  of  new  milk, 
and  straining.  This  also  is  an  excel- 
lent drink  in  similar  cases. 


ROE'S  SEEDLING  GOOSEBERRY. 

Sometime  last  summer  the  Rev.  E. 
P.  Roe,  of  Cornwall  on  the  Hudson, 
author  of  Play  and  Profit  in  the  Garden, 
brought  us  a  specimen  of  a  Goose- 
berry, in  which  bush  and  fruit  appeared 
to  be  perfectly  healthy,  and  the  fruit 
was  much  larger  than  any  of  our  native 
sorts,  abundant,  and  of  a  fine  green 
color.  Upon  learning  it  was  a  new 
seedling,  we  requested  Mr.  Roe  to  give 
us  its  history,  which  he  has  done  sub- 
stantially as  follows:  "In  1826  Mr. 
William  Roe  purchased  quite  a  large 
plot  of  ground  in  what  was  then  the 
outskirts  of  the  village  of  Newburgh, 
and  stocked  his  place  with  the  best 
fruits  that  he  could  then  procure.  That 
which  was  then  a  home  in  the  country, 


384 


THE     CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


is  now  a  country-like  home  in»  the  cen- 
tre of  a  large  city.  Mr.  T.  Hazard  Roe 
is  the  present  proprietor,  and  inheriting 
the  taste  of  his  father,  has  given  his 
place  a  local  reputation  for  its  fine  fruits 
for  many  years.  Among  the  known 
varieties  many  seedlings  were  permitted 
to  grow,  and  now  there  are  natural 
Pears,  Peaches,  and  Apples  on  the 
place,  that  are  very  valuable,  as  well  as 
a  seedling  Raspberry  that  promises  bet- 
ter than  anything  I  have  yet  seen. 

"  But  the  seedling  Gooseberry,  which 
I  brought  to  your  office,  is  perhaps  the 
fruit  of  the  greatest  promise.  For  years 
I  had  been  struck  by  the  remarkable 
size  and  fairness  of  the  Gooseberries, 
and  supposed  that  they  were  some  very 
fine  English  variety  that  by  some  good 
fortune  had  not  mildewed.  Some  time 
ago  I  expressed  my  surprise  to  Mr.  Roe 
that  his  Gooseberries  did  not  mildew, 
and  then  learned  for  the  first  time  that 
they  were  a  seedling  variety,  which  ori- 
ginated on  his  place  over  fifteen  years 
ago,  and  that  they  never  have  mildewed. 
I  at  once  concluded  that  if  it  could  be 
made  to  do  as  well  elsewhere,  it  would 
be  a  great  advance  upon  any  variety  of 
this  berry  I  had  yet  seen.  The  bush  is 
a  very  strong  grower,  and  perfectly 
hardy,  and  a  most  abundant  bearer,  the 
fruit  being  large,  green,  and  fine  flow- 
ered when  ripe." — Amer.  Agriculturist. 


NOCTURNAL  GROWTH  OF  PLANTS. 


The  books  teach  us  that  plants  do  not 
grow  in  the  night.  This  is  explained 
by  the  fact  that  the  vascular  structure 
of  the  vegetables  is  composed  principal- 
ly of  carbon,  much  the  larger  propor- 
tion of  which  is  absorbed  through  the 
leaves  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid  gas. 
This  gas  being  composed  of  carbon  and 
oxygen,  is  decomposed  by  the  plant,  the 
carbon  being  appropriated  to  the  build- 


ing up  of  the  vegetable  structure,  while 
the  oxygen  is  given  off  by  exhalation 
through  the  leaves.  But  we  are  taught 
that  this  absorption,  assimilation,  and 
rejection  can  take  place  only  in  the 
presence  of  light.  It  is  even  held  that 
this  process  is  reversed  during  the  dark- 
ness of  night,  and  that  the  plant  actual- 
ly loses  more  or  less  of  its  substance 
during  the  absence  of  light.  This  is  the 
theory.  Do  the  facts  sustain  it  ?  Two 
years  ago  I  tried  measuring  a  stalk  of 
growing  Corn,  morning  and  evening, 
for  a  succession  of  days,  and  found  that 
it  grew  in  height  more  during  the  night 
than  it  did  through  the  day.  Recently 
I  have  tried  a  similar  experiment  on 
several  different  plants,  the  results  of 
which  are  given  below.  And  though 
the  extension  of  a  plant  in  length  may 
not  prove  conclusively  that  the  substance 
of  a  plant  is  increased,  it  certainly  does 
raise  the  question,  and  throw  some 
doubt  on  the  correctness  of  the  above 
theory. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  my 
late  observations : 

Plants  Avebage 

Measured.      During  the  Bay.  During  the  Night. 

Com %  inch.  %  inch. 

Potato y2  inch.  4-10  inch. 

Pea %  inch.  10-12inch. 

Onion %  inch.  %  inch. 

Hop-vine 7  inches.  3  inches. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  greatest  dif- 
ference is  but  little  over  one-half,  while 
in  one  case  the  nocturnal  growth  was 
greater  than  the  diurnal.  How  is  this 
apparent  growth  of  these  plants  to  be 
accounted  for  if  they  do  not  grow  in  the 
absence  of  light?  These  observations 
were  made  at  a  time  when  there  was  no 
moon  shining  at  night,  the  light  of 
which  could  affect  the  growth.  The 
weather  was  warm  and  clear,  and  had 
been  preceded  by  a  few  days  of  showery 
weather  that  caused  a  rapid  growth  of 
vegetation  for  so  early  a  season  as  May. 
Will  some  of  the  savans  tell  wherein  our 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOKTICULTUKIST. 


385 


observations  are  at  fault,  or  reconcile 
these  facts  to  the  commonly  received 
theory,  or  shall  we  conclude  the  theory 
erroneous  ? — Gardener's  Monthly. 


BEFORE  THE  LEAVES  FALL. 


I  wonder  if  Oak  and  Maple, 

"Willow  and  Elm  and  all, 
Are  stirred  at  heart  by  the  coming 

Of  the  day  their  leaves  must  fall, 
Do  they  think  of  the  yellow  whirlwind, 

Or  of  the  crimson  spray, 
That  shall  be  when  chill  November 

Bears  all  the  leaves  away? 
"  If  die  we  must,"  the  leaflets 

Seem  one  by  one  to  say; 
"  We  will  wear  the  colors  of  all  the  earth 

Until  we  pass  away. 
No  eyes  shall  see  us  falter; 

And  before  we  lay  it  down 
"We'll  wear  in  sight  of  all  the  earth 

The  year's  most  kingly  crown." 
So,  trees  of  the  stately  forest, 

And  trees  by  the  trodden  way, 
You  are  kindling  into  glory 

This  soft,  autumnal  day. 
And  we  who  gaze  remember 

That  more  than  all  they  lost 
To  hearts  and  trees  together 

May  come  through  ripening  frost. 


Beautiful  Floral  Ornament.  —  Take 
a  soup-plate  or  a  pickle-dish,  and  fill  it 
with  sand.  Moisten  the  sand  with  wa- 
ter, and  heap  it  to  a  cone,  and  then 
thrust  into  the  wet  sand  flowers  and 
foliage  enough  to  cover  the  whole  sur- 
face, and  you  will  have,  if  you  arrange 
it  well,  the  most  beautiful  floral  orna- 
ment that  can  be  imagined.  This  is  an 
excellent  way  for  arranging  short-stem- 
ed  flowers,  or  those  the  petals  of  which 
are  too  soft  to  be  tied  without  injury 
among  stiff er  ones.  Or  place  in  the 
centre  of  your  soup-plate  a  tea-cup,  a 
child's  mug,  or  a  wine-glass,  in  which 
insert  a  small  bouquet,  and  then,  filling 
the  plate  around  it  with  sand,  proceed 
as  above.  This  will  make  a  better 
cone  than  the  first  method. 


(Editorial  portfolio. 


EXOTIC   GARDENS    AND    CONSERVATO- 
RIES, OPPOSITE  WOODWARDS 
GARDENS. 


In  visiting  lately  the  favorite  "Park 
of  the  Pacific" — Woodward's  Gardens 
— as  we  are  often  wont  to  do,  we  were 
pleased  to  find  in  the  large  lot  directly 
opposite,  in  a  very  convenient  location 
for  the  multitude  of  persons  both 
strangers  and  citizens  who  never  fail  to 
indulge  themselves  and  their  children 
in  feasting  on  the  many  objects  of  beau- 
ty and  interest  at  Woodward's,  an  es- 
tablishment in  the  nursery  and  floral 
line  opened  by  the  enterprising  and 
well  known  firm  of  Miller,  Sievers  & 
Co.  We  say  we  were  pleased  to  see 
this,  because  we  feared  that  this  fine 
block  might  be  appropriated  by  some 
party  or  other  for  the  opening  of  a 
house  and  garden  of  entertainment, 
especially  for  the  sale  of  wine,  liquors, 
beer,  etc.  How  much  more  pleasant 
is  it  to  see  the  ground  appropriated  for 
the  inspection  and  sale  of  trees,  plants, 
shrubs,  flowers,  etc. — objects  which 
have  a  tendency  to  promote  in  the  pub- 
lic mind  truly  moral,  intellectual,  and 
aesthetic  tastes.  How  natural  will  it  be 
for  many  of  the  patrons  of  Wood- 
ward's, after  viewing  his  conservato- 
ries and  exotic  plant  and  Pern  houses, 
etc.,  and  imbibing  a  longing  to  possess 
and  cherish  such  lovely  objects  in  their 
own  houses,  to  cross  over  the  street  and 
examine  more  extensive  and  complete 
premises  containing  nurseries  devoted 
to  these  interests ;  glass  structures  and 
houses  filled  with  a  very  large  variety 
of  hardy  plants,  trees,  shrubs,  and 
flowers;  aquatic  plants,  ferns,  and 
orchids ;  ornamental  foliage  and  flow- 
ering plants,  flowering  bulbs,  roots, 
etc.,  etc.  We  understand  that  the 
above  firm  have  imported  ten  thousand 


386 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


Roses  of  the  very  choicest  kinds,  free 
from  mildew,  and  grown  on  their  own 
roots;  also,  Camellias,  Rhododen- 
drons, Azaleas,  and  Ericas.  The  col- 
lection of  Palms  embraces  over  8,000 
plants  of  over  thirty  varieties.  The 
collection  of  Succulents  contains  over 
two  hundred  varieties  of  Cacti,  Agaves, 
Echeverias,  etc.  There  are  kept  on 
hand  also,  we  learn,  a  full  assortment 
of  flower,  tree,  and  shrub  seeds,  native 
as  well  as  foreign. 

Another  feature  in  this  undertaking  is 
that  those  who  desire  to  forward  Cali- 
fornia seeds,  bulbs,  and  plants  to  their 
friends  abroad,  will  find  in  this  collec- 
tion a  good  opportunity  of  doing  so. 

"We  have  always  been  of  the  opinion 
that  the  more  widely  and  liberally  every 
such  business,  so  beneficial  to  the  pub- 
lic as  the  above,  is  made  known  and 
encouraged,  the  better  it  is  for  all  con- 
cerned, and  for  all  others  in  the  same 
business  or  employment,  and  such  is 
the  sincere  and  honest  intention  of  this 
notice  to  our  readers. 


A  NEW   GOLDEN -FOLIAGED    CYPEESS. 

A  few  days  since  Mr.  I.  Begg,  of 
CHlroy,  showed  us  a  branch  of  what  was 
said  to  be  a  newly  discovered  mountain 
Cypress,  a  small  cluster  of  which  was 
found  growing  in  one  of  our'  southern 
mountain  ranges  in  this  State,  at  an  el- 
evation of  2,500  feet.  The  branch  was 
densely  covered  with  its  brown  fruit. 
Its  leaves  were  beautifully  tipped  with 
golden  color,  and  presented  a  most 
beautiful  appearance.  This,  if  a  dis- 
tinct species,  must  certainly  be  a  valua- 
ble addition  to  our  already  numerous 
list  of  fine  evergreens  found  growing  in 
our  forests,  and  will  form  from  its  splen- 
did golden  hues  a  lovely  ornament  in 
our  pleasure-grounds.     We  shall  make 


further  inquiries  concerning  it.  The 
golden  tint  might  be  caused  by  some 
natural  merely  temporary  effects. 


FETTIT    CULTIVATION,    AND 
EEPOET    ON    THE    EEUIT    AND    VEGE- 
TABLE MAEKET. 


BY   E.    J.    HOOPEE. 


In  our  paper  last  month  we  said 
something  regarding  the  application  of 
manures  for  fruit-trees,  and  in  'it  we 
promised  to  give  some  directions  for  the 
pruning  of  trees,  shrubs,  or  bushes. 
We  will  now  endeavor  to  do  so  to  the 
best  of  our  knowledge  and  ability.  We 
have  heard  some  fruit  cultivators  say 
that  they  prune  whenever  their  knives 
are  sharp.  This  is  a  very  good  idea,  if 
only  small  branches  or  twigs  need  to 
be  cut  out,  but  what  is  to  be  done  in 
the  case  of  large  limbs  in  an  old  orchard 
which  have  been  allowed  to  grow  too 
thick  and  long  in  consequence  of  want 
of  attention  to  the  trees  when  they  were 
young,  and  unfortunately  this  is  too 
often  the  case.  Any  orchard,  if  well 
kept,  will  be  in  such  shape  as  not  to  re- 
quire the  cutting  of  large  limbs,  and  if 
only  small  ones  are  cut,  it  is  not  so  im- 
portant about  the  season.  An  orchard 
may  grow  up  in  this  way  with  little  care; 
but  it  is  a  very  common  fault  that 
limbs  that  should  have  been  cut  when 
small  are  allowed  to  grow.  In  such 
cases,  we  should  cut  when  the  sap  is 
flowing,  when  the  orchard  is  in  bloom, 
and,  if  we  wish  to  properly  complete 
our  good  work,  we  should  paint  over 
the  wounds  with  a  gum-shellac  varnish, 
and  in  that  case  the  limbs  will  heal  and 
not  dry  at  the  end.  If  cut  when  the 
sap  is  down,  the  knot  will  dry,  then 
rot,  and  finally  injure  the  tree. 

The  quantity  of  timber  that  a  tree 
forms,  the  amount  and  quantity  of  its 
secretions,  the  brilliancy  of  its  colors, 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


387 


the  size  of  its  flowers,  and,  in  short,  its 
whole  beauty,  depend  upon  the  action 
of  its  branches  and  leaves,  and  their 
healthiness.  The  object  of  the  pruner 
is  to  diminish  the  number  of  leaves  and 
branches;  whence  it  may  be  understood 
at  once  how  delicate  are  the  operations 
he  has  to  practice,  and  how  thorough  a 
knowledge  he  ought  to  possess  of  all 
the  laws  which  regulate  the  action  of 
the  organs  of  vegetation.  If  this  is 
well  performed,  it  is  a  highly  beneficial 
process,  and,  if  badly  directed,  it  is 
among  the  most  hurtful  work  that  a 
plant  can  be  subjected  to. 

The  first  object,  that  of  producing 
the  desired  shajDe  of  the  future  tree,  is 
chiefly  done  upon  the  young  subject, 
even  in  the  nursery  row.  The  judicious 
pruner,  being  well  aware  of  the  upward 
tendency  of  young  growth,  seeks  to 
overcome  the  evil  by  proper  pruning. 
If  the  growth  be  altogether  upward,  and 
with  no  side  branches  the  first  season, 
the  stem  will  be  too  slender.  The  wise 
nurseryman  carefully  avoids  disturbing 
the  leaves  or  lateral  branches,  well 
knowing  their  importance  in  forming 
the  woody  trunk.  At  the  proper  sea- 
son he  trims  his  trees  down,  instead  of 
trimming  them  up — this  he  does  by 
heading  them  back  to  the  height  at 
which  he  desires  them  to  form  their 
branches — at  the  same  time  he  shortens 
in  the  laterals;  his  object  in  both  in- 
stances being  to  check  the  upward  tend- 
ency of  growth  by  removing  the  strong 
terminal  buds,  which  would  naturally 
have  formed  the  new  shoots  the  coming 
season.  The  result  of  this  treatment  is 
to  call  into  action  several  buds  at  the 
upper  part  of  the  stock.  These  are  to 
form  the  arms  of  the  tree,  and  hence  a 
very  important  part  of  the  pruning  and 
training  of  the  plant  is  thus  performed 
at  once  by  this  simple  operation  of  head- 
ing back  the  young  nursery  tree.     But 


further  attention  is  needed,  as  these 
arms  develop  themselves  during  the 
next  season  of  growth;  they  should  not 
be  too  numerous,  nor  too  much  crowd- 
ed together;  they  should  not  be  too 
nearly  matched  in  strength,  and  one 
should  be  kept  as  a  leader,  stronger 
than  the  rest.  Never  allow  two  shoots 
to  remain  contending  for  the  mastery; 
one  of  them  should  be  subordinated  by 
cutting,  breaking,  or  twisting,  as  soon 
as  it  is  observed,  for  however  beautifully 
developed  a  tree  grown  in  this  way 
may  appear  when  well  balanced,  there 
is  always  danger  of  its  splitting  down 
when  heavily  laden  with  fruit.  This 
very  common  error  of  our  orchards 
used  to  be  quaintly  illustrated  by  a 
friend  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois,  who 
cited  the  advice  of  a  Scotch  jockey,  to 
whom  he  had  applied  for  counsel  in  the 
purchase  of  horse-flesh:  "Ne'er  buy  a 
horse  whose  twa  fore-legs  cum  oot  fra 
ae  hole,"  said  he,  and  this  gentleman 
applied  the  same  principle  to  his  young 
fruit-trees,  by  never  allowing  them  to 
have  two  equal  leaders,  branching  from 
one  point.  It  is  also  important  to  have 
the  lateral  branches  regularly  distributed 
on  different  sides.  We  in  California  have 
learned  the  importance  for  us,  at  least, 
of  trimming  our  trees  down,  and  not  trim- 
ming them  up.  o  The  proper  season  for 
performing  this  kind  of  pruning  is  dur- 
ing our  rainy  season,  or  after  frosts  have 
passed,  and  with  some  kinds  of  orchard 
trees,  it  may  be  done  at  the  time  of 
transplanting  them,  which  is  never  late 
in  the  season  with  us,  when  they  need 
a  severe  pruning.  In  our  next  fruit  ar- 
ticle we  shall  consider  the  object  of 
pruning  being  done  with  a  view  to  the 
production  of  fruitfulness  in  the  tree, 
which  is  to  be  practiced  chiefly  in  sum- 
mer, the  remainder  of  our  space  now 
having  to  be  devoted  to  the  condition 
of  our  fruit  and  vegetable  markets. 


388 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HOETICULTUEIST. 


About  the  middle  of  last  month  (No- 
Tember),  vegetables  of  all  kinds  were  a 
shade  dearer,  the  bad  condition  of  the 
country  roads  preventing  farmers  from 
moving  their  produce  rapidly.  Wild 
Mushrooms  were  in  plenty,  the  rain 
having  produced  a  large  crop.  Grapes 
were  almost  out  of  market,  and  the  few 
remaining  varieties  were  a  turn  dearer. 
Still  there  were  enough  left  to  gratify 
lovers  of  that  fruit.  Strawberries  were 
getting  scarce  on  account  of  the  rain, 
and  advanced  to  25c.  @  30c.  per  H). 
Blackberries  and  Raspberries,  50c.  It 
will  rather  surprise  our  Eastern  friends 
to  hear  of  Raspberries  being  here  in  the 
middle  of  November.  Asparagus  retails 
at  35c@40c;  Summer  Squash,  5c.  @ 
6c;  Egg  Plant,  8c.@10c;  Chile  Pep- 
pers, 12iyc.;  Rhubarb,  6c.@8c;  Horse- 
radish, 15c(g}20c ;  Marrowfat  Squash, 
2c@3c;  Green  Corn,  20c@25c;  Ar- 
tichokes, 35c.@50c. ;  Brussels  Sprouts, 
6c. ©8c;  dried  Okra,  40c@50c;  Gar- 
lic, 12c.  @  15c.  per  lb.;  Mushrooms, 
10c  for  the  wild,  and  50c  per  BE)  for 
the  cultivated  variety.  "Watermelons 
and  Cantaloupes  were  out  of  market. 

The  late  heavy  rains  interfered  with 
the  picking  of  Strawberries,  and  just 
after  gave  most  of  them  a  pallid  com- 
plexion, making  them  much  less  tempt- 
ing in  appearance,  as  well  as  injuring 
their  flavor;  also  making  them  more  wa- 
tery in  their  juice.  The  rains,  howev- 
er, much  enlarged  their  size.  They  are 
still  of  the  Hovey  Seedling  species. 
The  receipts  of  them  were  also  much 
lighter.  Their  price  was,  about  the 
last  of  November,  40c  per  pound;  they 
were  hawked  about  the  streets  at  that 
price  in  small  one-pint  baskets.  The 
first  consignment  of  California  Lemons 
arrived  about  the  25th  of  November, 
and  prices  were  easier.  A  few  Rasp- 
berries were  to  be  had  at  50c  per  pound. 
Grapes  were  becoming  scarce,  but  the 


following  varieties  were  still  in  market 
at  the  prices  annexed:  Mission,  8c  to 
10c;  Elame  Tokay,  Black  Morocco, 
Muscat,  and  Coronation,  25c  per 
pound.  Apples  were  less  plentiful,  and 
sold  by  the  box  at  $1  50  to  $2  50;  Pears, 
$1  75  to  $3  00  delivered.  About  the 
last  of  November  Green  Peas,  Toma- 
toes, Cucumbers  and  Green  Corn  were 
poor  in  quality,  and  the  last  shipments 
were  expected  soon  to  be  received. 
String  Beans  from  the  Mission  gardens 
still  came  forward  in  fair  order.  Sum- 
mer Squash  had  just  disappeared, 
Sweet  Potatoes  were  scarce,  and  had 
advanced  to  4c. @  5c  per  pound.  Com- 
mon Potatoes  sold  per  single  sack,  de- 
livered, at  $1  75  to  $2  00  per  100 
pounds.  Asparagus  retailed  at  35c  to 
40c;  Egg  Plant,  8c  to  10c;  Chile 
Peppers,  12|c;  Rhubarb,  6c  to  8c; 
Horseradish,  15c  to  20c;  Marrowfat 
Squash,  2c  to  3c ;  Green  Corn,  20c  to 
25c;  Artichokes,  35c  to  50c;  Brussels 
Sprouts,  6c  to  8c;  dried  Okra,  40c. 
to  50c;  Garlic,  12c  to  15c;  Mush- 
rooms, 10c  for  the  wild,  and  50c  per 
pound  for  the  cultivated  variety. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  month  (De- 
cember) the  summer  vegetables  were 
gradually  disappearing  from  the  mar- 
ket. Green  Corn  was  out,  and  Cucum- 
bers and  Tomatoes  will  soon  follow. 
A  few  String  Beans  from  Mission  gar- 
dens were  to  be  had,  but  at  high  pri- 
ces. Sweet  Potatoes  were  scarce  at  4c. 
to  5c. 

The  list  of  domestic  fruits  was  con- 
fined to  Apples,  Pears,  and  a  few 
Grapes  and  Strawberries.  A  few  choice 
Grapes  were  coming  forward  which  sold 
as  follows:  White  Malaga,  Black  Mo- 
rocco, and  Black  Arabian,  25c;  Flame 
Tokay,  15c  to  25c;  Muscat,  20c  to 
25c;  Mission,  10c  to  12|c.  per  lb. 
Strawberries  were  scarce  during  the 
week,    chiefly  in   consequence   of    the 


THE    CALIFORNIA    HORTICULTURIST. 


389 


rainy  -weather.  The  last  Mexican 
steamer  brought  a  large  shipment  of 
Oranges,  including  the  crop  of  the  fa- 
mous Loreto  Grove,  near  La  Paz,  Low- 
er California,  and  the  market  was 
abundantly  supplied.  The  same  vessel 
also  brought  Lemons  and  Sugar  Cane. 
Eastern  Chestnuts  were  plentiful  at 
25c.  per  lb.  Apples,  by  the  box,  re- 
tailed at  SI. 50  to  $2.50,  delivered.  We 
append  the  following  from  the  Evening 
Post,  on  the  subject  of  Strawberries: 

"  There  has  been  only  one  month  this 
year  when  this  luscious  berry  was  en- 
tirely out  of  the  market.  In  some 
years  the  Strawberry  has  been  purchas- 
able at  the  stalls  almost  every  day  of 
the  year.  The  receipts  here  from  the 
first  crop  reached  13,646  chests,  run- 
ning from  eighty  to  ninety-six  pounds 
each.  Of  the  second  crop  there  have 
already  come  to  hand  about  2,415  chests 
— in  all,  say  15,061.  Prices  through- 
out the  season  have  ranged  from  five 
cents  to  two  dollars  per  pound.  The 
fruit  that  comes  here  is  all  raised  in 
the  Santa  Clara  Valley,  within  an  area 
of  about  six  miles.  Outside  of  this 
space,  for  a  distance  on  either  side  of 
say  three  miles,  and  until  you  reach  the 
mountain  ranges  inclosing  the  valley, 
there  is  a  rocky  formation  extending 
below  the  surface  to  a  great  depth. 
Here  all  attempts  to  sink  artesian  wells 
have  proved  fruitless,  and  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  Strawberry  has  necessarily 
been  restricted  to  the  limit  above  men- 
tioned, where  water  can  be  readily  ob- 
tained for  irrigating.  The  landlord  of 
each  "  patch"  shares  with  his  tenants, 
who  are  Chinese,  on  the  following 
terms:  He  furnishes  the  land,  and  a 
team  and  a  driver  to  cart  the  fruit  to 
the  landing.  The  Chinese  do  all  the 
necessary  labor  on  the  premises,  and 
receive  one-half  the  proceeds  from  sales, 
often  deducting  the  cost  of  transporta- 


tion to  market  and  the  commission  for 
selling.  On  some  places  the  Chinese 
are  divided  into  as  many  as  five  or  six 
companies.  The  land  will  not  bear 
profitably  beyond  seven  years,  and  the 
soil,  with  continual  irrigation,  gradual- 
ly loses  its  productive  power,  and  the 
berry  deteriorates  in  the  same  ratio." 

We  observe  that  Clingstone  Peaches 
have  held  out  longer  this  season  than 
we  ever  remember  for  six  years  past. 
They  have  been  sent  from  the  northern 
portion  of  the  State,  and  may  be  still 
found  in  the  market,  retailing  for  15c. 
per  lb.  We  have  noticed  some  very 
fine  California  Raisins  in  boxes,  which 
have  deservedly  attracted  much  admi- 
ration, and  which  promise  much  in  this 
interest  for  the  future.  Dr.  I.  Strent- 
zel  has  consigned  lately  some  superior 
specimens,  for  this  late  in  the  season, 
of  Grapes,  from  his  well-managed  "Al_ 
hambra  "  fruit  farm.  The  Apples  are 
now  chiefly  from  Oregon.  The  receipts 
of  Strawberries  are  now  light,  and  they 
are  not  tempting  in  their  complexion, 
being  rather  green  in  appearance,  but 
they  would  not  be  much  sought  after  if 
they  were  as  blushing  red  as  is  usual 
for  them  in  the  height  of  their  glory, 
for  they  must  have  had  their  day  most- 
ly for  this  season. 


OUE    FEONTISPIECE. 


Our  illustration  for  this  month  is 
the  Dwarf  Tree-fern  (  Lomaria  Gibba. ) 
This  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  grace- 
ful, and  feathery  objects  in  the  vegeta- 
ble world.  The  large  Tree-fern  forms 
a  very  distinctive  feature  of  the  tropical 
zone,  while  it  is  also  common  in  the 
equatorial  zone,  and  is  prevalent  and 
very  conspicuous  in  the  dense  under- 
wood which  chokes  the  forests  in  both 
those  zones.  Some  of  the  Tree-ferns  in 
Brazil  reach  to  the  height  of  forty  feet. 


90 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOBTICULTUKIST. 


There  their  peculiar  and  favorite  station 
is  in  the  depths  of  the  primeval  woods, 
where  they  grow  detached  from  one  an- 
other, like  hermits,  in  solitary  and  som- 
bre grandeur,  beirjg  never  gregarious 
or  collected  in  large  groups,  creating 
a  somewhat  sad  and  gloomy  impression. 
But  in  Tasmania  and  Australia  their 
light  and  spreading  canopies  are  asso- 
ciated with  all  that  is  cheerful  and  joy- 
ous. About  200  distinct  species  of 
Tree-ferns  are  known  to  botanists, 
though  few  have  as  yet  found  their  way 
into  our  conservatories.  The  expense 
of  exportation  and  their  slow  growth 
have,  thus  far,  made  them  costly  lux- 
uries. They  serve  a  double  purpose, 
however,  in  decorating  the  conservatory 
in  the  winter,  and  the  lawn  or  garden 
in  summer.  We  all  remember  the  fine 
and  elegant  effect  produced  in  the  Hor- 
ticultural department  of  our  last  Me- 
chanics' Institute  Exhibition.  How 
the  summits  of  their  stately  stems  were 
grandly  crowned  with  dark  green, 
plume-like  fronds,  varying  from  three 
to  six  feet  in  length;  and  how  beauti- 
fully the  young  fronds  were  arched,  be- 
coming bent  over  and  pendulous  as 
they  grow  older.  In  potting  Tree-ferns 
use  equal  parts  of  good  peat  and  loam, 
mixed  with  sharp  sand.  The  secret  of 
their  good  health  lies  in  a  little  extra 
supply  of  water.  All  these  Tree-ferns 
thrive  best  in  a  moist  air,  and  the  stem 
should  be  frequently  sprinkled  with  the 
syringe.  When  warm  weather  sets  in, 
as  it  does  in  some  of  our  sheltered  val- 
leys in  this  State,  the  tubs  in  which 
they  are  grown  may  be  set  out  of  doors, 
thus  making  an  ornament  than  which 
nothing  can  -be  finer  or  more  highly 
prized.  The  habits  and  characteristics 
of  the  Dwarf  Tree-fern  and  the  large 
Tree-fern  are  very  nearly  the  same,  the 
difference  being  chiefly  in  the  size  of 
the  two  different  species. 


NEW  AND   RARE   PLANTS. 

New  Gladiolus  for  1875  reported  by 
the  Horticulturist,  New  York. 

Andromede. — Long  spike  of  large 
and  perfect  flowers,  of  rich  rose  color, 
tinted  with  carmine  and  streaked  with 
white.     Large  yellow  blotch. 

Astree.- — Pure  white,  with  violet  car- 
mine, blotch  and  pale  lilac  throat;  new 
shade  of  color. 

George  Such  (so  named  in  France). 
—Very  dazzling   orange    red,    slightly 
flamed  with  carmine;  fine,  velvety  car- 
mine spots.     Unique  in  color. 

Giganteus. —  Grand  spike  of  large 
flowers;  color,  fine  rose,  shaded  with 
cherry;  upper  petals  striped  with  white, 
and  spotted  wdth  dark  carmine. 

Grand  Lilias. — Tall  spike  of  beauti- 
tiful,  delicate  lilac  flowers,  darkening 
towards  the  edges.  A  novel  and  ex- 
quisite color. 

Hercules. — Superb  flowers  on  a  fine 
spike;  brilliant,  velvety  scarlet,  flamed 
with  orange  red;  violet  blotch  on  a 
mauve  ground  wonderfully  effective. 

Loro.  Hawke. — Very  long  spike  and 
flowers  of  great  size;  fine  rosy  carmine 
with  transparent  throat,  each  petal  be- 
ing divided  with  a  white  line  and  spot- 
ted with  white.     Very  remarkable. 

Paetole.  —  Beautiful  spike  of  pure 
yellow  flowers  with  slight  rosy  border; 
lower  petals  shaded  with  darker  yellow. 
A  fine  addition  to  the  limited  number  of 
yellow  varieties. 

A  New  Hybrid  Lily. — Many  beau- 
tiful Lilies  have  been  produced  by  cross- 
es between  L.  auratum  and  the  specio- 
sums,  though  we  are  not  aware  that  any 
of  these  new  varieties  have  yet  been  of- 
fered for  sale.  It  requires  a  number  of 
years  —  probably  eight  or  ten  —  to  pro- 
duce bulbs  from  one  seed  in  a  sufficient 
quantity  to  place  them  in  the  market; 
so  that  after  the  announcement  of  a  new 


THE    CALIFOKNIA    HOBTICULTUKIST. 


391 


hybrid,  or  cross-breed  Lily,  we  must  wait 
patiently  for  a  long  time  before  we  can 
hope  to  procure  it. 

The  latest  novelty  among  this  beauti- 
ful class  of  plants  is  one  flowered  by 
Mr.  Anthony  "Waterer  of  England,  which 
according  to  the  Gardener' 's  Chronicle 
is  the  most  beautiful  that  has  yet  ap- 
peared. It  asks  us  to  imagine  a  blos- 
som of  the  high-colored  type  of  Lilium 
speciosum  increased  in  size,  so  that  the 
segments,  straightened  out,  measure 
nearly  fourteen  inches  across,  and  give 
to  this  grand  flower  the  coloring  and 
rich  spotting  of  the  plant  just  referred 
to — while  suffused  with  rich,  rosy  crim- 
son, and  having  deep  crimson  spots 
freely  distributed  over  the  colored  por- 
tion— and  ' '  some  idea  may  be  formed 
of  this  splendid  Lily.  To  these  noble 
proportions  and  charming  coloring  it 
may  be  added  that  the  scent  is  delight- 
ful, more  delicate  than  that  of  L.  aura- 
tum,  and  more  approaching  the  sweet- 
ness of  L.  speciosum.  We  have  seldom 
seen  a  more  magnificent  flower." 


NEW  FEUITS. 


The  Alexander  Peach. — This  is  said 
to  be,  from,  many  good  authorities  in 
fruit-growing,  one  of  the  best  and  earli- 
est Peaches  in  the  world.  It  is  a  chance 
seedling,  first  fruited  in  1872,  ripening 
that  year  about  July  18th — fully  three 
weeks  earlier  than  Hales'  Early,  in  the 
orchard.  It  is  said  to  be  a  very  hand- 
some, richly  colored  and  deliciously  fla- 
vored Peach,  excelling  in  these  respects 
all  new  early  Peaches  yet  introduced. 
It  is  reported,  also,  a  remarkably  strong 
and  vigorous  grower.  This  Peach  can 
be  obtained  from  J.  I.  Capps  &  Son, 
Mt.  Pulaski,  Logan  County,  Illinois. 

The  Amsden  June  Peach. — A  cel- 
ebrated new  early  Peach  from  southern 
Missouri,  also  one  of  the  earliest  Peach- 
es now  known;  fiom  same  proprietors. 


<tett;5ifl0tt(Utttfe. 


E.  J.  Hooper,  Esq.  : 

Dear  Sir  : — Through  my  friend  Chas. 
Hallock,  Esq. ,  editor  of  the  Forest  and 
Stream,  New  York  City,  I  am  induced 
to  write  you.  Pardon  the  presumption 
of  an  entire  stranger.  Having  been  a 
reader  of  Mr.  Hallock's  journal,  devot- 
ed to  the  manly  sports  and  to  natural 
history,  I  have  read  with  much  pleasure 
the  interesting  letters  of  his  corresjDond- 
ent  away  in  the  sunset  portion  of  our 
great  domain — Mr.  E.  J.  Hooper,  the 
gentleman  I  now  address.  If  you  are  a 
reader  of  his  excellent  paper,  you  may 
have  read  the  feeble  efforts  of  ' '  Ichthy- 
as  "  on  "  Eish  Culture  "  which  I  have 
found  time  to  indite,  not  on  account  of 
any  particular  sum  of  any  worldly  wis- 
dom they  may  contain,  but  to  stimulate 
this  great  industry  into  such  propor- 
tions as  nature  has  provided  for  it  in 
our  great  land,  varied  with  every  possi- 
ble advantage  for  its  complete  success. 
Your  great  State,  the  Ophir  of  the 
Union,  is  not  only  rich  in  the  dust 
that  all  are  seeking,  but  in  great  natural 
resources  that  conspire  to  secure  her 
early  greatness — ultimately  to  be  among 
the  brightest  in  the  bright  galaxy  of 
the  sisterhood.  It  gives  me  unbound- 
ed satisfaction  that  pisciculture  is  fast 
developing  and  supplementing  your  food 
resources.  Erom  the  stand-points  of  be- 
nevolence and  philanthropy,  this  move- 
ment is  ultimately  destined  to  lessen  the 
burdens  of  toil  of  those  upon  whom 
they  bear  with  such  heavy  weight.  It 
is  a  movement  that  has  been  crowned 
with  entire  success  in  every  State  where 
it  has  been  adopted,  and  ultimately  will 
engage  the  attention  of  good  men,  not 
only  upon  this  continent,  but  through- 
out the  naturally  adapted  portions  of  the 
entire  globe.  Let  us  hope  for  its  speedy 
dissemination;  for  the  on-coming  mill- 


392 


THE    CALIFOBNIA    HOKTICULTUBIST. 


ions  must  look  to  the  cultivated  wa- 
ters of  our  country  for  sustenance  be- 
yond what  Agriculture  can  bestow. 

Could  we  rightly  estimate  the  value 
of  food-fish,  their  adaptation  to  human 
wants  as  elements  of  food,  the  water 
area  of  our  country  would  be  as  thor- 
oughly husbanded  as  the  soil  upon 
which  we  have  hitherto  almost  exclu- 
sively relied  for  food. 

The  adoption  of  fish  culture  will  then 
result  in  a  double  benefit,  for  while  it 
furnishes  the  exhausted  energies  of  the 
brain  with  its  appropriate  pabulum,  a 
decided  stimulus  will  be  given  to  the 
study  of  natural  history.  There  is  no 
grand  division  of  the  zoological  world, 
more  fascinating  than  the  Ichthyc  Fauna, 
at  least  to  the  contemplative  mind,  or 
to  the  "disciple  of  the  rod."  Through 
all  the  ages  the  finny  denizens  have  at- 
tracted their  full  share  of  attention,  but 
not  so  much  in  a  scientific  light  as  at 
the  present  time. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 
Nahum  B.  Ballou. 


Conserve  op  Bose- leaves. — Gather 
the  leaves  of  any  sweet  -  scented,  fresh, 
full-blown  Boses,  early  in  the  morning 
while  the  dew  is  still  upon  them.  Have 
ready  provided  equal  quantities  of  nut- 
meg, cloves  and  mace,  Sprinkle  with 
salt,  and  then  with  the  spices  prepared. 
Take  a  box  of  any  kind  that  is  rather 
shallow,  place  in  the  bottom  a  layer  of 
Bose-leaves,  sprinkle  with  salt,  and  then 
with  the  spices  prepared;  and  then  put 
in  another  layer  of  Bose-leaves,  then 
spices,  etc. ,  until  the  box  is  filled.  Last- 
ly, tie  on  tightly  a  cover  of  sheer  mus- 
lin, and  expose  to  the  sun  daily  until 
perfectly  dry.  You  may  then  pack  the 
conserve  in  pretty  china  bottles,  with 
wide  mouths,  but  close  stoppers,  and 
you  will  be  provided  with  a  delicious 
perfume,    whose    sweetness    will    not 


evaporate  for  years.  It  is  pleasant  eith- 
er to  have  on  one's  parlor  mantel  or 
chamber  toilet -table.  As  a  perfume 
for  mouchoir-cases  or  scent-bags  it  is 
unrivaled.  Let  the  housekeeper  also 
try  laying  it  among  the  stores  on  the 
shelves  of  her  linen-closet. 


METEOROLOGICAL    RECORD, 

Fob  the  Month  ending  November  30,  1875. 

(Prepared  for  The  Hobticultukist  by  Thos.  Tennent, 
Mathematical  Instrument  and  Chronometer-maker,  No. 
423  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post  Office) . 

BAEOMETEE. 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 30.10  in. 

do  12m 30.10 

do  3  p.  m 30.09 

do  .   6p.ii 30.08 

Highest  point  on  9th,  at  12  m 30.25 

Lowest  point  on  the  13th,  at  3  and  6p.m 29.90 

THEEMOMETEE. 
(  With  north  exposure  and  free  from  reflected  heat.) 

Mean  height  at  9  a.  m 57° 

do  12  m 60J 

do  3  P.  at 60° 

do  6  p.  m 56° 

Highest  point  on  9th,  at  3  p.m 69c 

Lowest  point  on  the  26th  at  6  p.m 51° 

SELF-BEGISTEEING    THEKMOMETEE. 

Mean  height  during  the  night 51° 

Highest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  18th 58° 

Lowest  point  at  sunrise  on  the  3d  and  22d 44° 

WINDS. 

North  and  north-east  on  4  days;  north-west  on  2  days; 
south-east  on  7  days;  south-west  on  8  days;  west  on  9 
days. 

WEATHEE. 

Clear  all  day  4  days;  cloudy  all  day  16  days;  variable 
on  16  days. 

EAIN   GAUGE.  Inches. 

1st 0.31 

6th 0.21 

11th 0.03 

13th 0.47 

14th 0.12 

15th 0.16 

16th 0.82 

17th 2.01 

18th 0.7s 

20th 0.01 

23d 0.08 

24th 0.13 

25th 0.01 

26th 1.Q7 

30th 0.52 

Total 6.73 

Previously  reported 0.22 

Total  for  the  season 6.95 

Sharp  earthquake  shock  on  the  14th,  at  7.52  p.m.;  and 
a  moderate  one  on  the  27th,  at  10.38  p.m. 


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