1885.] JAPANESE MAPLES. 295 



cliecked that the timber trade may be placed on such a basis that 

 the supply may not exceed the demand to so great au extent as it 

 does at present. 



The joyous free life in the backwoods is never without a charm, 

 even to dwellers beside parlour fires. So, for their sakes, we repro- 

 duce so much of it as is represented in tlie woodcut on the opposite 



JAPANESE MAPLES. 



IT is some years since the late Mr. Fortune brought honie fi'brn. 

 Japan the representatives oi Acer japonicum and A. palmatum. 

 They were utterly unlike anything we had previously seen. The 

 varieties are of ricli tints — brown-red, orange-red, crimson-pink, etc., 

 and the foliage so beautifully cut and laciniated as to make them 

 objects of gi'eat beauty, and we are happy in being able to state that 

 they have proved much hardier than was at first imagined. We may 

 say of those we are about to name that they are perfectly hardy. 

 Then there is the great variety in the form of the leaves ; many 

 being elegantly dissected so as to be quite fern-like in appearance, 

 the extreme richness of the colouring varying from delicate rose to 

 rich pink and deep crimson, from pale to dark green, some distinctly 

 margined and variegated, render them at once indispensable to a 

 garden of any size. And there is another excellent use to which 

 they can be put : when cultivated in pots they are invaluable for 

 conservatory decoration because of their handsome and distinct 

 appearance. It was said respecting them by an eminent horti- 

 culturist that they are the plants of the future, but they require to 

 be better known in order that their merits may be adequately 

 recognised, and good plants, well established in pots, can be had at 

 from 40s. to 70s. per dozen in variety. Those we particularly desire 

 to name are Akashingtata, leaves digitate, deeply serrated, colour 

 bronzy-purple, with green midribs, extra fine and handsome ; 

 Aoshitare, digitate, deeply dissected and serrated, rich green, fern- 

 like, and very beautiful ; Benishidare, digitate, finely dissected, 

 bronze-purple, fern-like, and most beautiful ; Cliosenfuire, palmate 

 digitate, deeply serrated, cream-veined, and edged with green, distinct ; 

 Chosennishiki, digitate, deeply divided and serrated, green-shaded, 

 and edged bronze-purple ; Itava, large obtuse palmate leaves, colour 

 pale green ; Iwamotonishiki, digitate, serrated, pale green, richly 

 edged with pale rose, exceedingly chaste and beautiful ; Narnto, 

 deeply serrated, deep green, distinct ; Ogon, palmate, twelve-lobed, 

 serrated, golden, very distinct ; Okima, digitate, bright green. 



