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THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[July, 



Importance of Forests. — At the nineteenth 

 annual meeting of the Scottish Arboricultural 

 Society, held recently, the President, in his inau- 

 gural address, alluded to the beneficial effects of 

 the maintenance of a due proportion of forest 

 land in every country, from the shelter it gives 

 in spring and protection from high winds, as well 

 as to the common belief that malaria and flights 

 of locusts and noxious insects, &c., are often ar- 

 rested by belts of forest. He then proceeded to 

 sketch the evils that have followed the reckless 

 cutting down of indigenous wood in many coun- 

 tries, where, only when it was too late, have 

 measures been adopted for preserving the for- 

 ests. He urged the necessity of prudence and 

 caution in all operations which, on a large 

 scale, interfere with the primeval arrangements 

 of the organic and inorganic world. 



Andromeda arborea. — We seldom see in 

 pleasure grounds the Andromeda arborea (some- 

 times called Lyonia arborea), and yet it is one of 

 the prettiest of deciduous trees of moderate 

 gtowth, and when in blossom it forms an object 

 of singular elegance. The tree is somewhat 

 erect in its habit of growth, and is clothed with 

 largish oblong serrated leaves, which have an 

 acid flavor, whence it has been called the Sorrel- 

 tree. But its chief interest is to be found in its 

 flowers, which are so much like the bells of the 

 Lily of the Valley in outward aspect, that the 

 branched panicles might almost be imagined to 

 be made up of a loose cluster of Lily spikes. The 

 resemblance of the horizontal one-sided racemes 

 is, indeed, so striking, that the name of Lily-of-the- 

 Valley Tree might not inappropriately be ap- 

 plied to the species, the more so as it inhabits 

 the valleys of the Alleghenies. This is one of the 

 choice, old-fashioned, neglected plants one meets 

 with in such collections as that at the Knap 

 Hill Nurserv. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



NEW PLANTS. 



are produced very freely ; they are rather larger 

 than those of John Gould Vietch, and more 

 double. It can be strongly recommended for 

 pot-culture, as a conservatory climber, and for 

 outdoor decoration generally. It now appears 

 to be in the hands of all the principal nursery- 

 men. — Gardeners' Magazine. 



Fritillaria pudica. — A beautiful yellow-flow- 

 ering bulb of Utah and California; is finding its 

 way into general culture. Unlike so many of these 

 far western things it seems to be adapted to east- 

 ern culture. The flower much resembles the 

 snowdrop in form, and flowers a little earlier 

 than that well-known favorite. It might be 

 called yellow snowdrop. 



Fritillaria recurva, Benth., with flowers 

 worthy of being described as scarlet, is in flower 

 at Kew, and, it is needless to say, is a striking 

 novelty. It grows to a height of from one to 

 two feet, though the present example is less than 

 six inches, from the fact of the bulbs having been 

 somewhat weak, and without sufficient tinie to 

 get established. The leaves are very narrow, and 

 of a greyish green tint. The flowers number 

 from three to eight, are narrowly campanulate, 

 and from an inch to an inch and a half in length, 

 but in this case they are smaller. No other 

 known species can approach this in color. On 

 first expansion it appears most brilliant, being 

 afterwards apparently toned down with an in- 

 crease of yellow, which would seem the ground 

 color. The tessellation is somewhat obscure, 

 though evident on close examination. On the 

 inside the perianth is distinctly yellow, and is 

 covered with numerous usually linear scarlet 

 spots. It is a native of California, and will 

 doubtless prove one of the most 'interesting 

 bulbs recently introduced from that or any other 

 countrv. — Gardeners^ Chronicle. 



New Double White Ci-ematis. — In Lucie Le- 

 moine we have a new double-flowering white 

 Clematis which is destined to take high rank 

 among these beautiful garden flowers. It is a 

 Continental variety, as yet but little known, for, 

 as we have had so many introduced of late by the 

 English raisers, it has been well nigh overlooked. 

 Hence the necessity of directing prominent at- 

 tention to it. It is an early-flowering variety, 

 and the flowers, which are of the purest white. 



QUERIES. 



Diseased Branches on Oaks and Maples. — 

 J. H. McH., Pikesville, Md., writes : " I forward 

 some branches cut from diseased trees, and shall 

 be glad to have your advice as to the proper 

 remedial treatment of the trees. 



"The knots on the English oak appear princi- 

 pally on the lower branches on the north and 

 west sides of the tree. The branches of the ma- 

 ple seem to have been killed after the blossoms 

 were thrown out, and several maples of this 



