[1880, 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



309 



the trunk of the tree to get rid of the borers. 



Many thanks for your kindness in telling me 

 how to raise a young tree from the old one. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Sedum Meehani, 3Ieehan's Stotie Crop. — In the 

 Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts 

 and Sciences, issued September 1st, Dr. Asa 

 Gray has the following : 



"Sedum Meehani. Glaucescens, 2-3-pollicare, 

 radicibus fibrosis perennans, foliosuni ; foliis 

 teretibus (subsemipollicaribus, fioralibus minori- 

 bus) ; ramis calycibus ovariisque tenuiter glandu- 

 loso-hirtellis ; floribus omnibus 5-meris ; petalis 

 albis (tin. 2 longis) lanceolato-ovatis tenuiter 

 acuminatis calycia lobis ovatis plus duplo longi- 

 oribus. — Utah, on City Creek, north of Salt Lake 

 City, at the base of the mountains, collected by 

 John Reading, the live plant communicated 

 by Professor Thomas Meehan. It is so desirable 

 to connect in this way the name of Mr. Meehan 

 with the botany of the country which he has 

 done so much to illustrate, that the actual col- 

 lector will probably join us in wishing it to be 

 commemorated by this pretty little species of 

 Sedum. It will not make much show among 

 Meehan 's 'Flowers and Ferns of the United 

 States, Illustrated,' of which four goodly volumes 

 have already appeared under his editorship ; but 

 it is to be hoped that it will find a place in the 

 fifth volume." 



We may note in addition to this account by 

 Dr. Gray, that besides the beautiful glaucous 

 color which will make it a very desirable plant 

 for vases, rock work, and other places where a 

 dry and open spot has to be covered, it has the 

 unusual advantage of continuing a long time in 

 flower. The first flowers were open on the 11th 

 of June, and at the time of this writing, Septem- 

 ber 7th, there are still some flowers out. 



As no doubt the pretty species will be de- 

 manded by cultivators, and the dried specimens to 

 botanists, we have suggested to Mr. Reading that 

 he make another journey to the locality for 

 plants, and supply them to applicants, mail free, 

 for 50 cents each, and next summer make some 

 dried specimens for botanists at 25 cents each. 

 If he get enough applications it will probably 

 cover his time and expenses. Mr. Reading is an 

 enterprising florist and nurseryman of Salt Lake 

 City, and put up the first greenhouse ever built 

 in Utah. 



The Annual Rings in Trees.— An interesting 

 observation on the relation of the age of Gum 

 trees in Tasmania to the number of concentric 

 circles in their trunks is recorded in the Journal 



and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New SoiUh 

 Wales. It is given on the authority of the Rev. 

 J. E. Tenison- Woods, in an article on the forests 

 of Tasmania; and the information was obtained 

 from a Mr. Hill, proprietor of an extensive saw- 

 mill at Honey wood, whom Mr. Woods designates 

 as a perfectly reliable authority. This gentleman 

 had observed that the gum trees shed their bark 

 twice annually ; and having heard at a lecture 

 on the growth of trees that a ring of wood was 

 added each year, he was induced to test the 

 truth of this statement. There was a Blue Gum 

 tree in his garden at Hobart Town, the age of 

 which he knew with certainty, aa his brother 

 planted it eighteen years previously. He felled 

 it and counted the rings, and found them to be 

 thirty-six in number, or two for each year. 



As many of the Blue Gum trees first planted 

 in California are now being cut down, and their 

 exact ages known, we should hevery glad if some 

 correspondents will send us accounts of the 

 number of rings they find. It may serve to 

 throw some light on the disputed ages of the 

 big trees. 



Girdling Trees.— In Australia they do not 

 call it girdling, but "ringing" trees, when they 

 are talking of clearing off the original forest or 

 "paddocks." The trees often sprout below the 

 "ring" as our Chestnuts do, but sheep eat the 

 sprouts as fast as they appear, and for want of 

 foliage the whole stump dries. 



Honey Dew. — Of course we knevv that many 

 intelligent persons of the olden times believed 

 "Aphides" to fully account for all appearances 

 known as Honey Dew, but we did not know that 

 some of the leaders in modern thought in Eng- 

 land clung to this effete notion. It appears that 

 Sir John Lubbock holds to the idea that all 

 Honey Dew is merely excretions from Aphides, 

 and this has induced an intelligent correspondent 

 of Gardening Illustrated to give a piece of his 

 mind, from which we break the following crumb: 

 "The sooner Sir John Lubbock and other writers 

 correct their erroneous impressions the better it 

 will be for science. It is not creditable to the 

 latter that at this time of day there should be 

 any doubt on such a simple matter." 



The Ox-eye Daisy. — As an illustration of the 

 unstability of popular names of plants, we may 

 note that our Ox-eye Daisy is known in Scotland 

 as " Horse-Gowan." But the botanical name is 

 hard — Chrysanthemum leucanthemum. 



