400 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



CHINESE YAM FOR ORNAMENTAL PURPOSES. 



Mr. E. S. Carman, in the Rural New Yorker, speaks of this plant as follows : 

 "The growth of the stem from the time it appears above ground until about 

 June 10, is remarkable. It is like a purple rope without leaves or leaf append- 

 ages of any kind. The 'rope' attains the height of from ten to fifteen feet 

 before the buds push, living meanwhile upon the nourishment stored up in the 

 root, being a biennial in its nature, the same as the carrot, beet, parsnip, 

 turnip, dahlia, or sweet potato. We mention this because it has often been 

 stated that the Chinese Yam increases in size from year to year, whereas the 

 Yam of one season dies during the next. In early June lateral buds push and 

 the stems soon become wreathed in foliage. It is well to pinch the leading 

 buds if a closer growth of foliage is desired. Respecting the rapidity of the 

 growth of this vine, we may say that several years ago we tied a string as a mark 

 and found by exact measurement that in twenty-four hours the stem had grown 

 eight inches. The flowers are borne in delicate racemes and emit a pleasant 

 cinnamon fragrance, from which circumstance an enterprising individual, 

 several years ago, sought to introduce it as a new plant under the name of 

 * Cinnamon Vine.' By this name it is still known in many places. In the 

 axils of the leaves little tubers form, which may be described as resembling 

 miniature Early Rose potatoes. After the first frosts, these fall, and if buried 

 in the earth, will sprout the ensuing spring. Or they may be collected and 

 kept through the winter the same as potatoes. The plaut is disecious. We 

 have in this country only the male, so that true seeds never form. It seems 

 odd that, in view of its beauty, the female has never been introduced, so that 

 we might hope to raise seedlings of different varieties." 



THE TULIP TREE. 



Of the widely disseminated native, the tulip tree {Liriodendron Tulipifera), 

 which the late A. J. Downing regarded as " decidedly the most stately tree in 

 North America," which others have called beautiful, which is variously known 

 as poplar, white-wood, tulip tree, Virginia poplar, saddle tree (from the trun- 

 cate shape of the leaves), canoe-wood, etc., which has exceptionally attractive 

 foliage, fragrant tulip-shaped flowers, wood durable and useful for many pur- 

 poses, and root-bark of tonic properties; Mr. E. S. Carman says that, contrary 

 to a general opinion, it is not difficult to transplant, as he has known hundreds 

 removed with as little percentage of loss as in the case of the sugar maple. 



"To be successful in transplanting the young tulip, however, not only must 

 the secondary branches be cut back but the entire stem to within two or three 

 inches of the neck must be cut away so that the roots and neck are all that 

 remain to be transplanted." 



As to rapidity of growth, it is remarked that from roots thus transferred 

 from their native ground in early spring, trees not less than fifteen feet high 

 can be counted upon in five years. Mr. Carman thus set one within twenty 

 feet of the house, to produce a quick effect on a new place. Of results thus 

 far, and under the unnatural treatment of the pruning-knife, this is given . 



The third year it had made a growth so considerable that we were called 

 upon to decide whether it should be cut back or removed, and the former alter- 

 native was adopted. It has been cut back yearly since with the result that we 



