92 



THE GAlWENEli'S ilONTULY 



[^ March, 



ity for "liortensis," he evidently ilid not quote 

 corrertly. In such cases the elianieter and 

 weight of the aiitliorities are of quite as much 

 importance as their number, and with most per- 

 sons the authority of De Candolle and Asa CJray 

 will outweigh that of Donn, Curtis, and — if I 

 may be allowed to say it — even that of i\\Q Rural 

 itself. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Thk Plant Life of Norway. — This is the title 

 of a beautiful work just issued in German by the 

 distinguished Danish Botanist, Dr. F. C. Schu- 

 beler, of Christiana. The many odd shapes which 

 trees take in that peculiar climate, are beauti- 

 fully illustrated. For instance, the Norway spruce 

 in lieavy snow will have its branches pressed to the 

 ground by tlic weight and then earth will wash 

 down with some thaw and cover the lowermost. 

 In such cases, the point of the branch will grow 

 up, and roots push down, just as in layering, and 

 in after years a very pretty clump come into 

 existence as if it were a mother with all her young 

 children about her. The peculiar climate and 

 conditions of Norway make these curious ap- 

 pearances in trees not uncommon. Norway 

 spruces blow down, and get covered by snow, 

 and moisture hangs about the prostrate trunk 

 long enough to encourage sprouts which become 

 in time trees, and there will often be a half a 

 dozen good sized trees which have grown out of a 

 prostrate trunk in this way. The whole book is 

 full of such interesting information. How slow 

 trees sometimes grow is well illustrated in the case 

 of a common Juniper. When sawed off it was 

 found to have made 297 aimual layers of wood, 

 and yet was but twelve and a half inches in 

 diameter. 



In regard to the varied character of the growths 

 of trees in differing circumstances, there is, for in- 

 stance, a sketch of the Juniper (Juniperus com- 

 munis). ^Vs we generally see it, it is at best but 

 a conical, usually a rather cylindrical growing 

 tree. He figures one which has a head like an 

 old oak or a chestnut, and describes it as being 

 twenty-five feet high, with a straight trunk for 

 six feet up to the branches. This trunk is seven 

 feet one inch in circumference, and the great 

 round head of branches, about twenty-five feet 

 wide — completely round. Americans would give 

 a good deal to have a specimen of a Juniper 

 like that. 



Dr. Schubeler does not forget the points of in- 



terest attractive to the scientific as well as the 

 mere intelligent reader. He gives a plate of the 

 variations in the scales of Norway spruce cones, 

 all taken from the vicinity of Cliristiana, which 

 those wlio are making so many new species out 

 of our Californian Conifenc may well profit by, 

 I). Scliubeler pleasantly remarks, that there 

 seems to be some priiiciiilcs in human nature of 

 love ioT beauty antl nice things, in spite of some 

 other principles which would seem to oppose 

 them. He instances the use made by the Lap- 

 landers of the sweet vernal gnxss, Anthoxan- 

 thum odoratum. He describes them as an in- 

 describably dirty race; seeming to rejoice and 

 take pride in filthiness, and yet they make a 

 sort of plaited collar of this grass, so as to enjoy 

 its delicately delicious perfume. 



All who have a knowledge of the German lan- 

 guage will enjoy a rich treat in the perusal of 

 Dr. Schubeler's book. 



Burning of Lee's Greenhouses. — We are 

 sorry to have to write the burning of Lee's Green- 

 houses at Lake View, near Chicago, on the first 

 of February. 



Proceedings of the Georgia State Hort. 

 Society. — This is the first issue and contains the 

 address of the first President, P. J. Berckmans, 

 and a full list of fruits best adapted to the State. 



The Early Nurserymen of Illinois. — Mr. W. 

 C. Flagg says — Joseph Curtis, John Smith and 

 W. B. Archer established nurseries about 1818 

 in Illinois. "Before 1S30, nurseries of more or 

 less importance had been begun in Adams county 

 by John Wood (1820); in Edwards, by Sidney 

 Spring (1825); in Jersey, by Robert Avery (1825); 



in Madison, by Masson (1820?); in Perry, by 



Joseph Bradshaw (1825?); in St. Clair, by ■ 



Wood (1820?), and in Vermillion, by John Canady 

 (1826). This list is, no doubt, quite incomplete. 



Hand-Book of Practical Landscape Garden- 

 ing, by F. R. Elliott. Published by D. M. Dewey, 

 Rochester, N. Y. It is gratifying to note the 

 tendency to an appreciation of beauty and taste 

 among the farmers and fruit growers of the coun- 

 try. Those we mean that are outside of the 

 regular horticultural literature properly so called. 

 Anything that will he!p*this good tendency is a 

 great public blessing. For this class this little 

 book of Mr. Elliott's is just the thing. The more 

 elaborate works of Downing and Kemp can 

 never be brought to them. They take too many 

 bushels of corn to buy, and when bought cannot 

 be understood. Cheap, and yet attractive volu- 



